Editor, RE: “City public transport woes: Now RURA, bus firms in blame game” (The New Times, August 25). The way I see it, the issue in the transport system in Kigali City is that the service providers (bus companies) are businesspeople whose sole aim is to make as much money as possible at the end of the day. They have to achieve this by collecting as many passengers as possible, which means keeping time is not their priority—they have to meet operational costs, such as workers’ salaries, maintenance, meet tax obligations, etc... Basing on my experience of almost 9 years working in one the worlds efficient public transport systems in Europe, to be specific, in the greater Copenhagen city of Denmark, is that time-keeping is strictly adhered to; theres a harmonized ticket sale system whereby not more than two minutes is spent at a given stage. RURA should look into a possibility of establishing a contractor-subcontractor relationship, whereby tickets sales revenue goes directly to RURAs account (contractor). In turn, bus companies (sub-contractors) should make agreement with RURA to provide the services with a given number buses, price per bus based on input/hours of service. I think that this method will eliminate worries of bus owners of losing income, if they operate under the current regulations. This will give RURA the possibility of enforcing efficiency and fining those service providers that don’t live up to the requirement. Patrick
