Is Christmas travel safe and affordable?
Dec 22, 2003
The Xmas season started at the end of November when many distant workers arranged to take their annual leave in December.
By M. K. Tibabiganya
The Xmas season started at the end of November when many distant workers arranged to take their annual leave in December.
Students broke off for their holidays early this month while traders from all corners of Uganda are flocking to and from Kampala to collect merchandise for their up- country business for the December festivities.
Tourists from the temperate zones flock to East Africa to do their usual sun-bathing while some Ugandans in the Diaspora travel home to spend Xmas holidays with their dear ones. In all these trips, the majority of destinations are rural based with a very small fraction ending in Kampala. Over 90% of these travellers use public transport, hence the unprecedented peak in travel demand, 15 days before Christmas day itself.
Passengers expect availability of vehicles, reasonable travel time, a reliable service, affordable fares, comfortable seats and adequate safety and security.
Parallel to these requirements, the operators aim at making as many full trips as possible at high speeds. They will want to cover their operating costs and make maximum profits during this season.
The buses must be full, travel safely and return to base without highway robbers or blood thirsty rebels. Each operator will aim at attracting as many passengers as possible onto his vehicles. The government on the other hand will through various agencies like the police ensure safety and security and high quality service to the travellers.
During this hectic period, the operators renege on most of their duties. Buses are withdrawn from low passenger density routes to the dense ones.
over-speeding up to the deadly mark of 160kph is the norm. When a gateway bus is roaring to Soroti in the hope of making a return trip for a fresh loading for the same direction on the same day, the Tooro, Kisoro and Arua buses do the same in spite of all haul routes being studded with traffic police of inadequate logistics.
Overloading, over speeding and dangerous overtaking become the order of the day until the return load dwindles to less than 20%.
The operators resort revise fares by over 50%. The Kampala leavers are fleeced during the season and travel at very high risk. Routine and other repairs are deliberately ignored until the end of the season.
Altogether most coaches incur operating costs of sh600 -sh1,000 per km when full or overloaded as is the case now. the operators make over sh1,500 per bus per km from collections.
Public transport is not priced according to the rules of supply and demand.
The high yields from peak and full load operations are used to cross-subsidise the off-peak and slack periods thus enabling all public service vehicles to continue running according to their schedules in spite of changes in densities of patronage without raising the charges.
The current fares are already too high, having increased by 200,000% between 1987 and 2003 of the new currency which is 2,140,000% of the old currency.
Commuters and other regular long distance traveller’s wages and salaries have remained miserable during the name period.
The government on the other hand must protect the interests of both parties by ensuring the publishing and keeping of fares and timetables in operation and protecting legitimate interests of the bona fide operators’ of route monopolies, by keeping out traffic cram skimmers.
Thirty - five years ago I undertook an arduous and frenetic study in automobile Engineering and Transportation planning as part of my rigorous traffic and transport studies. I have since 1972 carried out engineering inspections and valuations on vehicles and related equipment.
I wish to use my training and experience in the above field to advise the government to immediately stop the Uganda Revenue Authority from issuing road licenses to vehicles without fitness test certificates from competent vehicle inspectors. Over 70% of all vehicles in Uganda are in very dangerous mechanical condition.
I recently participated in the training of high profile police vehicle inspectors who should be able to help out immediately and supplement the long overdue private inspectors under the Ministry of transport.
otherwise URA may be mistaken as trading in peoples’ blood and skulls.
The Xmas season started at the end of November when many distant workers arranged to take their annual leave in December.
Students broke off for their holidays early this month while traders from all corners of Uganda are flocking to and from Kampala to collect merchandise for their up- country business for the December festivities.
Tourists from the temperate zones flock to East Africa to do their usual sun-bathing while some Ugandans in the Diaspora travel home to spend Xmas holidays with their dear ones. In all these trips, the majority of destinations are rural based with a very small fraction ending in Kampala. Over 90% of these travellers use public transport, hence the unprecedented peak in travel demand, 15 days before Christmas day itself.
Passengers expect availability of vehicles, reasonable travel time, a reliable service, affordable fares, comfortable seats and adequate safety and security.
Parallel to these requirements, the operators aim at making as many full trips as possible at high speeds. They will want to cover their operating costs and make maximum profits during this season.
The buses must be full, travel safely and return to base without highway robbers or blood thirsty rebels. Each operator will aim at attracting as many passengers as possible onto his vehicles. The government on the other hand will through various agencies like the police ensure safety and security and high quality service to the travellers.
During this hectic period, the operators renege on most of their duties. Buses are withdrawn from low passenger density routes to the dense ones.
over-speeding up to the deadly mark of 160kph is the norm. When a gateway bus is roaring to Soroti in the hope of making a return trip for a fresh loading for the same direction on the same day, the Tooro, Kisoro and Arua buses do the same in spite of all haul routes being studded with traffic police of inadequate logistics.
Overloading, over speeding and dangerous overtaking become the order of the day until the return load dwindles to less than 20%.
The operators resort revise fares by over 50%. The Kampala leavers are fleeced during the season and travel at very high risk. Routine and other repairs are deliberately ignored until the end of the season.
Altogether most coaches incur operating costs of sh600 -sh1,000 per km when full or overloaded as is the case now. the operators make over sh1,500 per bus per km from collections.
Public transport is not priced according to the rules of supply and demand.
The high yields from peak and full load operations are used to cross-subsidise the off-peak and slack periods thus enabling all public service vehicles to continue running according to their schedules in spite of changes in densities of patronage without raising the charges.
The current fares are already too high, having increased by 200,000% between 1987 and 2003 of the new currency which is 2,140,000% of the old currency.
Commuters and other regular long distance traveller’s wages and salaries have remained miserable during the name period.
The government on the other hand must protect the interests of both parties by ensuring the publishing and keeping of fares and timetables in operation and protecting legitimate interests of the bona fide operators’ of route monopolies, by keeping out traffic cram skimmers.
Thirty - five years ago I undertook an arduous and frenetic study in automobile Engineering and Transportation planning as part of my rigorous traffic and transport studies. I have since 1972 carried out engineering inspections and valuations on vehicles and related equipment.
I wish to use my training and experience in the above field to advise the government to immediately stop the Uganda Revenue Authority from issuing road licenses to vehicles without fitness test certificates from competent vehicle inspectors. Over 70% of all vehicles in Uganda are in very dangerous mechanical condition.
I recently participated in the training of high profile police vehicle inspectors who should be able to help out immediately and supplement the long overdue private inspectors under the Ministry of transport.
otherwise URA may be mistaken as trading in peoples’ blood and skulls.