Transport Industry In Uganda Needs People With Vision!
Apr 02, 2004
SIR— The coming of the new large buses for Kampala is unstoppable, for the good of the city and its commuters.
SIR— The coming of the new large buses for Kampala is unstoppable, for the good of the city and its commuters.
KCC should immediately liberate the parks from the current mini buses and re-design them according to modern terminal planning instead of leaving them to bus operators who may not be interested in and cannot afford the cost of the designs.
The Old Taxi Park, the New Park and the Baganda Bus Park can all be made into one central park area to serve all public passenger transport with modern amenities and efficient passenger transfers.
The number of loading and
unloading points depends on the number of routes, peak-hour frequencies on each route, waiting time and service reliability, among other factors. All the regional, country and urban large buses must use one central park area instead of parking at Shimoni Road, Luwum Street and Arua Park, etc, creating untold passenger inconvenience, insecurity an lack of co-ordinated transfers.
This is why I am advocating for professional terminal operators that have no stake in bus ownership to be in charge of all public parks so as to protect the bona fide interests of all operators and passengers alike under the supervision of the transport ministry. Routes with headways below five minutes need at least two berths each since any bus delays cause waiting time to overlap on one parking space.
Multiple parking lots in a terminal have three obvious arrangements according to arrivals and departures. Some do not allow any overtaking while others allow independent departures but not independent arrivals.
The third arrangement allows independent arrivals and independent departures. All these need different dimensions from each and for different bus lengths. A saw tooth curb design allows quicker, safer and easier bus manoeuvres.
The terminal must also house staff rooms, free toilet facilities, safe fuel storage, washing and service sheds, despatch offices, hotels, a clinic and a workshop where need arises and where space permits.
Some original parks for UTC and PTC big buses were taken over and converted into shops and markets without providing alternative space for this essential bus service, yet in the absence of an efficient public transport service a country remains wasteful and underdeveloped.
KCC and the transport ministry should take interest in the bus terminal infrastructure and superstructures to clear the current mess.
The transport industry in Uganda needs people with sufficient theory and practice of the transport profession in technology, planning operation and management, but not politicians and ordinary traders in the vanguard. Uganda could have achieved this if it has sold 50% of the shares of UTC or the peoples transport company to the workers, 25% shares to the public and then kept 25% to the Government.
M.K. Tibabiganya
Kampala
KCC should immediately liberate the parks from the current mini buses and re-design them according to modern terminal planning instead of leaving them to bus operators who may not be interested in and cannot afford the cost of the designs.
The Old Taxi Park, the New Park and the Baganda Bus Park can all be made into one central park area to serve all public passenger transport with modern amenities and efficient passenger transfers.
The number of loading and
unloading points depends on the number of routes, peak-hour frequencies on each route, waiting time and service reliability, among other factors. All the regional, country and urban large buses must use one central park area instead of parking at Shimoni Road, Luwum Street and Arua Park, etc, creating untold passenger inconvenience, insecurity an lack of co-ordinated transfers.
This is why I am advocating for professional terminal operators that have no stake in bus ownership to be in charge of all public parks so as to protect the bona fide interests of all operators and passengers alike under the supervision of the transport ministry. Routes with headways below five minutes need at least two berths each since any bus delays cause waiting time to overlap on one parking space.
Multiple parking lots in a terminal have three obvious arrangements according to arrivals and departures. Some do not allow any overtaking while others allow independent departures but not independent arrivals.
The third arrangement allows independent arrivals and independent departures. All these need different dimensions from each and for different bus lengths. A saw tooth curb design allows quicker, safer and easier bus manoeuvres.
The terminal must also house staff rooms, free toilet facilities, safe fuel storage, washing and service sheds, despatch offices, hotels, a clinic and a workshop where need arises and where space permits.
Some original parks for UTC and PTC big buses were taken over and converted into shops and markets without providing alternative space for this essential bus service, yet in the absence of an efficient public transport service a country remains wasteful and underdeveloped.
KCC and the transport ministry should take interest in the bus terminal infrastructure and superstructures to clear the current mess.
The transport industry in Uganda needs people with sufficient theory and practice of the transport profession in technology, planning operation and management, but not politicians and ordinary traders in the vanguard. Uganda could have achieved this if it has sold 50% of the shares of UTC or the peoples transport company to the workers, 25% shares to the public and then kept 25% to the Government.
M.K. Tibabiganya
Kampala