Vehicle-based services such as mobile health clinics can increase spatial accessibility in rural areas. In contrast to stationary infrastructure, vehicle-based services are flexible and can be less capital-intensive to initiate service supply. In particular, rural communities across sub-Saharan Africa experience insufficient access to essential public services necessary for sustainable human development. We consider vehicles as mobile service platforms capable of temporarily transporting service staff, goods, and functions necessary for service delivery spatially closer to rural demand locations. Despite these advantages, public authorities must perform a cost–benefit analysis before allocating resources to a vehicle-based service fleet. This paper analyzes which vehicle-based services beneficially influence the Sustainable Development Goals and quantify their potential for the sub-Saharah African region. Based on a criteria-based selection method, we parse 169 target formulations and extract a set of directly influential Sustainable Development Goals. The remaining goals are the starting point for a literature review to identify existing vehicle-based service concepts addressing the targets. Our evaluation reveals that vehicle-based services can enhance about 128 (76%) of all targets and 16 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Half of these targets require the delivery of consumable goods, whereas 59 (35%) of the Sustainable Development Goal targets relate to the transportation of people, and 24 (14%) require access to a broader spectrum of functionality mounted on top of the vehicle, such as water pumps or refrigerators. In combination with publicly available data, we can identify the SDG for each African country with the greatest potential for a vehicle-based service intervention. Our approach enriches public project appraisals for systematical decision support between stationary and mobile infrastructure.

Geographic distance between supply and demand reduces spatial accessibility. Vehicles have been contributing to improved spatial accessibility by offering transport services for people and goods. From traditional trucks to mobile health clinics, vehicles can offer a wide range of functionalities on wheels. To develop context-specific vehicles-based services, we propose a novel engineering framework based on a supply chain perspective. Requirements are derived from supply chain stakeholders and translated into vehicle-based services and vehicle components.

Improving access to essential public services like healthcare and education is crucial for human development, particularly in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. However, limited reliable transportation and sparse public facilities present significant challenges. Mobile facilities like mobile clinics offer a cost-effective solution to enhance spatial accessibility for the rural population.Public authorities require detailed demand distribution data to allocate resources efficiently and maximize the impact of mobile facilities. This includes determining optimal vehicle service stop locations and estimating operational costs. Our integrated approach utilizes GIS data and an accessibility scaling factor to assess spatial accessibility for rural populations. We tailor demand structures to account for remote and underserved populations. To reduce average travel distances to 5 km, we apply a clustering algorithm and optimize vehicle service stop locations. In a case study in rural Ethiopia, focusing on four key public services, our analysis demonstrates that mobile facilities can address 39-62\% of unmet demand, even in areas with widely dispersed populations. This approach aids decision-makers, including fleet operators, policymakers, and public authorities in Sub-Saharan Africa, during project evaluation and planning for mobile facilities. By enhancing spatial accessibility and optimizing resource allocation, our methodology contributes to the effective delivery of essential public services to underserved populations.

Access to transportation is a key enabler of economic and sustainable development in rural emerging economies. Implementing effective improvements requires a deep understanding of the current mobility landscape. Despite its significance, recent research on transportation and mobility characteristics in rural Sub-Saharan Africa remains limited. This study addresses this gap by analyzing mobility patterns and motivations in central Côte d’Ivoire, based on a series of quantitative and qualitative field surveys and a two- electric-vehicle pilot study, conducted between 2021 and 2023. We comprehensively assess rural transportation by situating our empirical findings within the context of existing transportation models and prior studies while evaluating their implications for the Sustainable Development Goals, and offering an outlook on electric vehicle usage patterns in rural areas. The findings provide important guidance for policymakers and industry stakeholders, helping to develop sustainable interventions and business models that improve local access to goods, services, and economic opportunities.

Transportation is a constitutional part of most supply and value chains in modern economies. Smallholder farmers in rural Ethiopia face severe challenges along their supply and value chains. In particular, suitable, affordable, and available transport services are in high demand. To develop context-specific technical solutions, a problem-to-solution methodology based on the interaction with technology is developed. With this approach, we fill the gap between proven transportation assessment frameworks and general user-centered techniques. Central to our approach is an electric test vehicle that is implemented in rural supply and value chains for research, development, and testing. Based on our objective and the derived methodological requirements, a set of existing methods is selected. Local partners are integrated in an organizational framework that executes major parts of this research endeavour in Arsi Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia.