Satellite bus parks will end K’la traffic jams
Oct 17, 2006
Some people think that traffic jams in Kampala are an indication of economic progress in Uganda. However, when the number of cars on the streets increases without a corresponding increase in infrastructure, the whole scenario becomes malignant.
Some people think that traffic jams in Kampala are an indication of economic progress in Uganda. However, when the number of cars on the streets increases without a corresponding increase in infrastructure, the whole scenario becomes malignant. The bigger the tumour, the poorer the health.
It is common knowledge that Kampala’s development plan has not been followed to the letter. The word zoning has escaped from our vocabulary. Zoning is the legal regulation of the use of land. It is the principle upon which urban design is hinged. Without proper zoning we shall still suffer the problem of congestion on the streets, inadequate transportation system, undue concentrations of populations and a greater safety risk in cases of fire and panic. Secondly, a very high rural-urban migration will lead to more congestion.
We need to recognise the challenges posed by our type of land-ownership. Infrastructure development such as roads and parks require large stretches of land. Our land ownership is mostly very fragmented private mailo and this complicates infrastructure development.
The management of the transport service industry is in the hands of interest groups who are not working for the common good but their own selfish interests. There is a lot of rivalry in different transport companies hence frustrating any would be positive interventions.
The new bus terminal for the western route at Nateete has met stiff resistance from various circles notably, the bus operators and some members of the general public. They argue that satellite bus terminals create great inconvenience for the travellers and that keeping upcountry buses on the periphery of the city will instead tremendously increase traffic congestion in the city.
In the short-term these dissenting voices are raising a very pertinent issue. There is no way you can airlift a bus park from Nakivubo to Nateete and you leave behind all the other attendant services such as shopping centres, hotel accommodation and taxi parks that have organically and symbiotically grown with the park. A bus park is a place with a sense of occasion and purpose but not just a stretch of space, as it is now at Nateete.
In the long-term, creation of satellite bus parks is a well-intentioned idea with a lot of potential for reducing traffic congestion in the city. A lot still needs to be done both in clothing and selling the idea (public relations). Satellite bus parks will decongest the city in the long-term with due attention to the following:
When the town bus service commences next year, taxi omnibuses should be allowed to use routes around the periphery so as to create a traffic ring around the city. If taxi parks are designed alongside these satellite bus parks, long distance travellers can reach their destinations without entering the centre. For example a traveller from the western Uganda can disembark into a waiting taxi at Nateete that will use the northern by-pass to reach Bweyogerere. A traveller from eastern Uganda can reach Kawempe without using the centre. Therefore the new satellite parks should be accorded a dual purpose, a bus park and an adjacent taxi park. Travellers that must come to the centre can then use the town service buses.
With time, these satellite parks will develop into business centres complete with their own shopping centres, hotels and taxi parks, thus decongesting the city centre.
Ends
It is common knowledge that Kampala’s development plan has not been followed to the letter. The word zoning has escaped from our vocabulary. Zoning is the legal regulation of the use of land. It is the principle upon which urban design is hinged. Without proper zoning we shall still suffer the problem of congestion on the streets, inadequate transportation system, undue concentrations of populations and a greater safety risk in cases of fire and panic. Secondly, a very high rural-urban migration will lead to more congestion.
We need to recognise the challenges posed by our type of land-ownership. Infrastructure development such as roads and parks require large stretches of land. Our land ownership is mostly very fragmented private mailo and this complicates infrastructure development.
The management of the transport service industry is in the hands of interest groups who are not working for the common good but their own selfish interests. There is a lot of rivalry in different transport companies hence frustrating any would be positive interventions.
The new bus terminal for the western route at Nateete has met stiff resistance from various circles notably, the bus operators and some members of the general public. They argue that satellite bus terminals create great inconvenience for the travellers and that keeping upcountry buses on the periphery of the city will instead tremendously increase traffic congestion in the city.
In the short-term these dissenting voices are raising a very pertinent issue. There is no way you can airlift a bus park from Nakivubo to Nateete and you leave behind all the other attendant services such as shopping centres, hotel accommodation and taxi parks that have organically and symbiotically grown with the park. A bus park is a place with a sense of occasion and purpose but not just a stretch of space, as it is now at Nateete.
In the long-term, creation of satellite bus parks is a well-intentioned idea with a lot of potential for reducing traffic congestion in the city. A lot still needs to be done both in clothing and selling the idea (public relations). Satellite bus parks will decongest the city in the long-term with due attention to the following:
When the town bus service commences next year, taxi omnibuses should be allowed to use routes around the periphery so as to create a traffic ring around the city. If taxi parks are designed alongside these satellite bus parks, long distance travellers can reach their destinations without entering the centre. For example a traveller from the western Uganda can disembark into a waiting taxi at Nateete that will use the northern by-pass to reach Bweyogerere. A traveller from eastern Uganda can reach Kawempe without using the centre. Therefore the new satellite parks should be accorded a dual purpose, a bus park and an adjacent taxi park. Travellers that must come to the centre can then use the town service buses.
With time, these satellite parks will develop into business centres complete with their own shopping centres, hotels and taxi parks, thus decongesting the city centre.
Ends