Six months after Kigali introduced a new public transport model, a state-owned company behind it, Ecofleet Solutions, says the priority is now to make the system reliable, financially sustainable and technology driven rather than expand services too quickly.

Speaking to The Context, a podcast by The New Times, Aubin Rukera, Chief Executive Officer of Ecofleet Solutions, said the changes have introduced government owned buses, performance based contracts and dedicated bus lanes under a new approach intended to shift public transport from operator driven profits to commuter focused service delivery.

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However, he acknowledged that challenges remain, including driver culture, rising fuel costs and slower than expected uptake of park and ride facilities.

Read the excerpts of the conversation:

Question: Six months into implementation of the new model, what has the experience been like?

Answer: It has been quite a journey because when we started more than a year ago. We looked at models from countries like Singapore and tried to adapt them to our context.

It was challenging because no one had expertise in this area in Rwanda.

We developed the model, ran scenario analysis and proposed what we believed would improve commuters’ experience.

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When operations started in December, implementation itself was difficult. We had to coordinate different partners, existing operators and drivers, while changing the culture to make the sector professional.

The first month showed there was appetite from commuters. This was long overdue — a service-led public transport that responds to commuters’ needs.

We have seen ridership growth and revenue growth, although fuel prices remain a challenge.

Question: How does the new model work?

Answer: Previously, operators brought their own buses, obtained licences and deployed them mainly to maximise profits.

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Today, we guarantee a certain margin and remove part of the operating risk. The buses are no longer entirely owned by operators.

The government purchased 190 buses which Ecofleet owns and maintains. We currently operate nearly 340 buses in total and lease the remaining fleet from investors.

There are two contracts. One is for leasing buses, the second is for operating routes. We collect revenues and guarantee payments. Operators provide drivers and management teams, while Ecofleet provides buses, fuel and charging.

Performance is measured through service agreements, indicators and incentives. As technology becomes fully operational, we intend to automate performance measurement.

Question: You have reported higher ridership. How much of that reflects actual growth?

Answer: When we looked back at November, the numbers were around 150,000 passengers per day in Kigali.

Today, we are talking about around 240,000. But we need to be careful.

Part of the increase reflects controls we introduced against fraud. We installed cameras and strengthened monitoring and discovered fare evasion.

So we still need time to determine what portion reflects genuine growth and what portion reflects reduced fraud.

Question: Park and ride was introduced to encourage people to shift from private cars. Did it work?

Answer: Very few people used it. The numbers are not significant. We still maintain those facilities with partners but we do not believe this is currently the main issue for commuters.

People have different travel patterns and many combine work, schools and other movements.

One thing we intend to revisit is integrating parking with bus pricing because there should be an incentive for someone to leave their car and use public transport.

Question: What has been the biggest challenge?

Answer: The first challenge came before implementation. Convincing stakeholders that this model would work took time.

Bus companies, drivers and other decision makers were skeptical. When operations started, driver management remained difficult.

Drivers are the face of the system. Customer service starts with them. We improved allowances and conditions but results have not fully met expectations.

Changing culture remains one of the biggest challenges and we are considering bringing in new people with a different mindset.

Question: What achievements stand out so far?

Answer: The first is reliability. Our promise was to make the system predictable so commuters know when buses arrive and when they reach their destination.

Technology is the main pillar behind this. We are building an integrated system that monitors operations and gives commuters access to schedules and timetables.

We are developing a mobile application and exploring wider distribution of schedules across digital platforms.

At bus stops, commuters should eventually know whether buses are arriving within five or 10 minutes or delayed. We piloted some devices but they did not deliver the quality of information we expected, so we are testing alternatives.

The second achievement is sustainability. Public transport must remain financially sustainable.

Today, most of the fleet still runs on diesel and fuel price increases have affected operations. That is why transitioning to electric buses is important.

Countries that introduced electric buses significantly reduced operating costs. Lower operating costs would allow reinvestment in buses, depots and terminals.

The third is increasing public transport usage. Previous studies estimated public transport accounted for around 10 per cent of travel in Kigali.

We estimate this has risen to around 20 per cent and our ambition is to move towards 30 per cent and eventually 50 per cent.

Question: When should commuters expect the technology solutions to go public?

Answer: Technology projects depend on budgets, requirements and unforeseen circumstances.

That is why we work in phases. Sometimes you release a usable solution while continuing to improve the rest.

Today, we are carrying out beta testing. Internal teams and selected external users are testing the systems.

We will only release them once we are confident they are mature enough. That is why I would not commit to specific timelines. We are at the final stage of delivery.

Question: Have there been cases where operators failed to meet expectations?

Answer: Yes, there were challenges at the beginning. There were moments when conditions were not met or interpretations of contracts created misalignment.

We had one case that required renegotiation. We are not here to punish operators. We came to support the private sector while ensuring service standards are respected.

We review performance and engage operators where improvements are needed, including maintenance, cleanliness and operations. We currently work with four service operators and six bus leasing providers.

Question: Where do you want Kigali’s public transport system to be in 10 years?

Answer: I want to see at least 50 per cent of commuters using public transport. Before the reforms, public transport accounted for around 10 per cent. Today we estimate we are at around 20 per cent. If public transport becomes the preferred mode of transport in Kigali, then we will have succeeded.