The association of public transporters (ATPR) has called for dedicated lanes for public buses in the City of Kigali.
Eric Ruhamiriza, the Secretary General of ATPR – association of passenger public transporters – made the request on Wednesday, July 6, in Kigali.
The call was part of efforts to reduce the time passengers wait for buses, and was made during the engagement between the Senate’s Standing Committee on Economic Development and Finance, and the private Sector Federation (PSF), ATPR as well as the Institution of Engineers Rwanda on activities to fast-track sustainable urbanisation in the country.
Senators said that normally, with the current public transport regulation, passengers should wait for a bus for not more than five minutes at a car station but this isn’t always the case.
Ruhamiriza said that in the City of Kigali, they have been encountering the problem of long queues as passengers wait for buses partly because of the limited transportation means.
This situation, they said, inconveniences many.
Also, he said that traffic jam resulting from a large number of cars, including private on the road, was also contributing to the problem. This is the case during rush hours – such as when people want to return home from work or other businesses.
"Sometimes traffic jam is a challenge for us such that it takes long for a bus that has left to drop passengers to return to pick others, as its movement is impeded by other cars on the road,” he said.
"There are many good roads that have been constructed. But, what we request most is to dedicate specific roads [or lanes] for public transport buses in the city,” he said.
Senator Marie-Rose Mureshyankwano said passengers wait for long to get buses, "yet in our country, we encourage that people use public transport to reduce traffic jams.”
"The issue of passengers waiting for long to get buses must be addressed,” she said.
Senator Faustin Habineza, former Deputy Chairperson of Kigali City Council, said that when he was in the Kigali City council, there was a plan that all roads being constructed to have a lane reserved for public vehicles.
He suggested that the transporters remind the City of Kigali to activate the plan.
Ruhamiriza said that they will discuss with the Rwanda Utilities regulatory Authority (RURA) and the Ministry of Infrastructure so as to get an update on reserving particular lanes for public buses.
Need for investment to increase buses
Ruhumuriza said that for the transport issue to be fully addressed, transporters also have a role to play including increasing the number of buses with the capacity to carry many passengers.
But, the investment should also be in line with the country’s vision, which calls for support, he said.
"You realise that the required investment to address that problem is huge because we want to use good quality buses that are in line with the vision of our country,
"But, you find that we face different problems including [high] interest rates on bank loans, as well as lack of collateral when we want to increase the number of buses. We wish that ways to support transporters be considered,” Ruhumuriza said.
Also, he revealed that currently, the public transport licence is valid for five years, which in some cases, makes banks reluctant to provide long-term loans to transporters.
Callixte Kanamugire, Chief Advocacy Officer at Private Sector Federation (PSF), said that when vision 2020 was set, there were small minibuses with 18 passenger seats, but currently, there are buses with a capacity of 75 passengers (seats).
"This is a major achievement that is in line with international [public] transport standards,” he said.
However, he indicated that implementing public transport projects, requires huge investment, pointing out that one bus costs between Rwf150 million and Rwf200 million for proper transport of passengers and their luggage.
"There are still challenges that hinder infrastructure development, including inadequate access to finance,” he said, also calling for low-interest loans for public transport buses.