The request by the Association of Commuter Taxis (ATRACO) to put up a temporary Taxi park, behind the main Kwa Rubangura bus terminal, has been turned down by Kigali City Council (KCC) after it unveiled its City Master Plan.

The Atraco boss Twahirwa Dodo had argued last month that the temporary park would help reduce t raffic congestion and would also help control the taxi flow which is the main cause of the scarcity during peak hours.

Speaking to The New Times, Dodo, confirmed that the request that had been made earlier by Atraco was not granted.

"After the unveiling of the City Master Plan, we were told that the temporary park cannot be possible,” confirmed Dodo when contacted on phone.

He however, added that KCC is planning to meet them so that they are shown the designated terminals where commuter taxis will park around the city.

"Kwa Rubangura will be used by the City centre–Remera route only,” he revealed.

Dodo, however could not establish the locations of other terminals saying that the details of the terminals would given in the meeting with KCC officials.

When contacted about the issue, Bruno Rangira, the Communications Director at KCC, confirmed that a meeting between KCC and Atraco officials was in the offing explaining that KCC had appointed a committee which would hand in its report in the scheduled meeting.

He could not readily give details of the new bus terminals, saying that they were with the committee in charge of planning whose supervisor could not be reached by press time.

Initially, the Kigali City Master Plan does not include commuter parkings, what is in the plan are bus terminals in different parts of the city where taxis and vehicles will be
off loading and loading passengers.

The chaos at Kwarubangura terminal during peak hours has been causing a lot of problems of late, which include congestion and pick pocketing as commuters struggle for the scarce omni-buses.

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