The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) has given Volcano Limited a green light to start operating new routes in the City of Kigali which is expected to curb the public transport crisis. The development was announced on August 7, and the company, which is known to ply upcountry and international routes, started operating in various lines effective Monday, August 8. According to a statement signed by Deo Muvunyi, the acting Director General of the utilities regulator, the changes will be scaled up to other lines with shortages as more investors come. The lines Volcano Express will be working on including Remera Bus Park to town, Remera Bus Park to the Economic Zone located in Masoro, and Remera Bus Park to Bwerankori. Others include Remera Bus Park to Nyabugogo via Kacyiru, Remera Bus Park to Busanza, and Rubilizi to Nyabugogo Bus Park. This comes after RURA recently issued a rallying call to investors to introduce more buses in a bid to end public transport woes in the City of Kigali. According to RURA, there is a huge deficit and high demand for buses on Kigali roads, yet the number of passengers keeps increasing. This has led to long queues in bus parks and at different bus stops in the city, a situation that worsens during peak hours – early morning when people are commuting to work and late in the evening as they return home. In a recent interview with the national broadcaster, Emmanuel Katabarwa, the city engineer disclosed that there is currently a deficit of 271 buses based on demand and that there is also a need for more 500 buses to put an end to the existing challenges. Before Volcano Express, there were three transport companies; Royal Express, Kigali Bus Service, and Jali Transport Limited, which is formerly Rwanda Federation of Transport Cooperatives (RFTC). Each company has dedicated routes.
