How Better Transport Drives Opportunity

Development Challenge

Weak transport connectivity limits economic growth and job opportunities. For millions of people, a long commute or an impassable road can stand between them and a new or better job. In crowded cities, congestion and unreliable transport steal hours each day; in remote regions, poor roads isolate communities from markets and services. These barriers limit opportunity, slow economic growth, deepen inequality - especially for low-income workers and youth - and highlight the urgent need for transport systems that make access to jobs faster, safer, and more inclusive.

World Bank Group Approach

The World Bank Group's transport strategy is built on a simple but powerful premise: when people move efficiently, economies grow and jobs follow. The World Bank Group invests in transport systems that connect people to jobs, markets, and essential services - helping countries turn mobility into opportunity. This includes financing, support to institutional reforms, and catalyzing private sector participation. Together, these elements deliver tangible results. Short-term employment during construction combines with long-term productivity gains from better connectivity to reshape how people work, where firms locate, and how goods move.

Two areas of transport investment illustrate this approach: mass transit systems and strategic transport corridors. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in cities and urban centers enhance accessibility and reliability, reduce congestion, shorten commute times, and better connect low-income residents to job centers. Transport corridors within and across countries improve trade connectivity, stimulate private investment, and create tens of thousands of jobs.

Results and Outcomes

Mass Transit

In Brazil, the Sao Paulo Metro Line 4 Project (2002-2018) has delivered major accessibility gains, reducing travel times by 48 percent and doubling job accessibility . The current Phase Three Extension (2025-2030) project is extending the metro 3.3 km beyond São Paulo's city limits, increasing the share of jobs reachable within a 60-minute public-transport commute for residents living within 2 km of the new stations from 14 percent to more than 21 percent and is expected to directly benefit around 800,000 daily users, attract roughly 50,000 new riders per day, avoid about 28,500 tons of CO₂ annually, and expand access to employment opportunities for low-income commuters in Taboão da Serra.

In Ecuador, the Quito Metro Line One Project (2013-2023) created a 23 km, 13-station metro line - strengthening integration with the city's public transport system. The system carries and average of 152,000 people every day, reducing public-transport travel time from about 39 minutes to 23 and the increasing the share of jobs accessible within a 60-minute commute from 45% to 51%. As the backbone of Quito's integrated transport network, the metro is also projected to expand access to employment opportunities across the metropolitan area, where an estimated 760,000 jobs lie within its area of influence.

In Peru, the Lima Metropolitano BRT North Extension project (2020-2024) added 10.2 km of segregated lanes and built 17 stations, improving mobility and expanding job access for low-income residents. On monitored segments, average commuting time fell by more than one-third, while the number of jobs reachable within a 60-minute, one-way public-transport commute from the project area rose to nearly 200,000.

In Senegal, since 2017 the Dakar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Pilot Project has enabled 65 percent of residents in the Greater Dakar Area to reach the city center within a 60-minute commute. By project close, in June 2026, the BRT is expected to serve approximately 300,000 daily commuters and expand access to an estimated 170,000 employment opportunities for low-income residents densely populated peripheral neighborhoods.

Economic Corridors

In addition to these mass transit projects, economic corridors are also improving transportation systems, generating thousands of short-term construction jobs and long-term employment through better market access, and enhancing trade efficiency and opportunities. Over the last two decades, the World Bank has financed 21 economic corridors projects in 16 countries.

In India, World Bank Group-supported sections of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) highway project supported roughly 250,000 workers daily, generating substantial short-term jobs in civil works and related services. Improved connectivity along the corridor helped boost non-farm employment shares by 1.6 percentage points for women and increase manufacturing output growth by as much as 49% in areas farther from the network- supporting broader regional trade and economic integration.

In Kazakhstan, the Western Europe-Western China Corridor project upgraded some 1,600 km of strategic highways. During construction, the program created more than 50,000 jobs - including 1,200 permanent positions in road maintenance. Improved connectivity has strengthened market access and logistics efficiency for 5.5 million people around the country, contributing to lower transport costs and expanded trade activity along the corridor. Complementary training and certification programs helped local workers, particularly youth, acquire new skills, supporting local enterprise growth and reducing outward migration - with 43% of beneficiaries indicating improved job and income opportunities linked to corridor development.

In Georgia, the East-West Highway Corridor in Georgia helped upgrade the route to meet international standards as part of a broader national program, cutting travel time by 30 percent, reducing fatality rates by 74 percent, and improving connectivity across the country - strengthening market access and logistics efficiency for firms and producers. Economic modeling suggests these improvements could raise real GDP by around 1.5 percent in the medium term and up to 4.2 percent in the long term. By stimulating firm expansion and regional integration, the corridor is also expected to reduce unemployment by up to 2.8 percent in the medium term and 4.4 percent over the long term, supporting job creation beyond direct construction activities.

Contribution to WBG Targets and Jobs

Transport directly creates jobs in construction, operations, maintenance, and other related activity, accounting for as much as 12% of GDP in many low- and middle-income countries. Well-planned mobility investments deliver far-reaching economic and social returns and creating efficient, resilient, and affordable transportation systems can unleash economic growth and create jobs. By expanding job access for low-income and marginalized communities, improving market connectivity, and generating employment, investments in transport deliver measurable gains for the people who need them most.

Lessons Learned

Evidence across World Bank Group-supported urban mobility and corridor investments shows that transport projects can be powerful job-creation platforms when designed around accessibility rather than mobility alone. Urban BRTs and metro systems demonstrate that scalable, high-capacity public transport can quickly expand job accessibility for millions - particularly low-income residents - and targeting underserved communities can maximize equity outcomes, as seen in Dakar's BRT system and Quito's Metro.

Additionally, pairing infrastructure with institutional reform, regulatory improvements, private sector participation, and skills development can amplify and sustain results beyond project closing. Skills training and certification programs within corridor investments can help local workers access new employment and reduced outward migration, as seen in Kazakhstan, while upgrading corridors can drive structural transformation, seen in India.

Next Steps

Drawing on lessons and building on the results of these and other transport projects, the World Bank will move toward systematically embedding jobs outcomes into transport operations, from project identification to evaluation. This includes scaling the use of indicators on more and better-paid jobs in project appraisal, and strengthening links between transport, land use, and capacity building programs. Future operations should expand replicable, modular models, such as BRTs, metro extensions, and strategic corridors, while leveraging digital data to target underserved areas. Deepening partnerships with the private sector and cities, and strengthening knowledge transfer across countries, will be key to scaling proven transport-for-jobs solutions globally.