Pioneer Easy buses to offer 24-hour service

By John Semakula

Pioneer Easy Bus, the company behind the city bus project that has several times failed to beat their own deadlines of entering the transport industry has released the conditions under which it expects to “operate” next month.

According to the conditions, the buses will operate 24 hours and that to ensure that the passengers are safe; “each bus will be manned by three drivers and turn-boys working in shifts of eight hours.

Pioneer Easy Bus had promised to roll out its services on city roads mid this year but delayed due to unclear reasons. The company has since set January as the deadline for joining the transport business.  

Herbert Mucunguzi, the company’s marketing manager, told New Vision on Wednesday that the buses will also have special security cameras mounted on them to monitor passengers for security reasons.

The company is importing the buses in phases and the first batch of 100 buses is reportedly on its way from China where they have been assembled. The buses are expected to be in the country early January.

The cameras, Mucunguzi said, will detect people who impersonate passengers and board the buses only to end up stealing other passengers’ property. 

“The thieves will be arrested even after they have disembarked from the buses,” Mucunguzi said.

The buses will also have special sections for different groups of people including the disabled, Mucunguzi said, adding that the intention is to make the buses more user friendly to all groups of people.

“We shall have different classes of people sitting in different sections. We want everyone to feel comfortable because our plan is to make people leave their cars at home and use the buses,” he said.  

A person may also not have to move with transport fees all the time because the passengers will be expected to use smart cards which they will swipe on the door ways while embarking.

Mucunguzi said that the company will issue out smart cards which passengers will use for a day, week, month or year. Companies may also buy the cards for their employees.

With the increasing number of road accidents in the country, Mucunguzi said that the buses have been made in the way that their engines are at the back to reduce their power while running.

The company also plans to construct bus terminals outside Kampala at the end of their first year of operation which will be the stopping points for vehicles from upcountry.

Many developed countries today use bus services because they help in reducing the traffic jams and are cheap to use compared the matatu and taxis but Uganda has taken long to go on board.