Kampala waits for promised 200 buses
Aug 18, 2003
A few months ago, the Uganda media was awash with the news of the long awaited big buses for Kampala destined to start operating on the 48 urban routes to usher in the usual attributes of large carriers in cities.
By M.K. Tibabiganya
A few months ago, the Uganda media was awash with the news of the long awaited big buses for Kampala destined to start operating on the 48 urban routes to usher in the usual attributes of large carriers in cities.
All together, 200 buses were promised to arrive in the country by October this year although the indicated fares and scale of charging were too high and peculiar for an African city of our type.
Certainly, the urbanities are eagerly waiting for location of the terminals and stages of the buses near their trip origins and destinations and a high frequency of service at intervals of 10 minutes during peak hours.
The network of operations must reach the majority of homes in Kampala and places of work.
With increased large bodied buses carrying between 80 and 120 passengers, the nauseating grid locks will disappear and a travel time of 30 minutes from Gaba, a suburb of Kampala to the city will be achieved instead of the current long two hours wasted on the same journey during peak periods.
Operational technology for buses in Africa is still a closed book to many transport entrepreneurs hence the current mediocrity and death in their services.
Reliability of service must be achieved through scientific approach to scheduling of the entire system, professional supervision, and regular maintenance of the vehicles so that passenger patronage reaches paying load factors to enable the operators keep the routes with the required frequencies.
A fall in this attribute will make the passengers look for immediate alternatives like it is with the recent boda-boda cyclists vis-à -vis Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers’ Association (UTODA) micro-buses.
The forth attribute is the affordable user cost. The published scale is inapplicable in developing countries, where the average income of the low wage earners is about sh100,000 per month. Commuters at lower levels of income must not spend more than 17% of their monthly income, for instance, for a Gaba-Kampala return trip, the commuter should pay only sh600 and sh300 for a single trip.
This must be a graduated fare scheme, where passengers boarding at the city centre and alighting at Nsambya pay sh100, those alighting at Kansanga pay sh200 and the rest pay sh300 up to Gaba.
To achieve paying loads, the big buses must be given route monopolies so that they continue running even if some trips do not make more than 10% load factors.
The monopolistic or oligopolistic route operations will provide for a cross-subsidisation of low income routes by high yields from peak trips and high passenger density routes.
The big buses will also offer safe standing positions, better seats and a higher quality of ride which the micro-buses have never and can never achieve.
The safe and comfort geometry of entrances or exists, width of aisles, low jerk, moderate noise levels and some amount of privacy on large buses make them acceptable to everybody, including the elderly and the sick.
Crawling in and out of the micro-buses will be a nuisance of the past.
Any bus system must use convenient bus stops at intervals of 300 metres, must have weather protection, route information and seating provisions. Safety and security on large buses is obviously greater than on minibuses.
High body collapse resistance and greater numbers of travellers make the big bus safer and securer than UTODA’s vans.
However, as a transport or traffic consultant, I must inform the intending operators and Ugandans that route casting alone will take not less than three months, stages or stops reintroduction five months and the number of buses should not be less than 450.
It is possible that there will not be any dependable large bus in Kampala until October 2004.
The Ministry of Works and Kampala City Council, must be involved in the preparations if we must have a meaningful bus network in the city.
A few months ago, the Uganda media was awash with the news of the long awaited big buses for Kampala destined to start operating on the 48 urban routes to usher in the usual attributes of large carriers in cities.
All together, 200 buses were promised to arrive in the country by October this year although the indicated fares and scale of charging were too high and peculiar for an African city of our type.
Certainly, the urbanities are eagerly waiting for location of the terminals and stages of the buses near their trip origins and destinations and a high frequency of service at intervals of 10 minutes during peak hours.
The network of operations must reach the majority of homes in Kampala and places of work.
With increased large bodied buses carrying between 80 and 120 passengers, the nauseating grid locks will disappear and a travel time of 30 minutes from Gaba, a suburb of Kampala to the city will be achieved instead of the current long two hours wasted on the same journey during peak periods.
Operational technology for buses in Africa is still a closed book to many transport entrepreneurs hence the current mediocrity and death in their services.
Reliability of service must be achieved through scientific approach to scheduling of the entire system, professional supervision, and regular maintenance of the vehicles so that passenger patronage reaches paying load factors to enable the operators keep the routes with the required frequencies.
A fall in this attribute will make the passengers look for immediate alternatives like it is with the recent boda-boda cyclists vis-à -vis Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers’ Association (UTODA) micro-buses.
The forth attribute is the affordable user cost. The published scale is inapplicable in developing countries, where the average income of the low wage earners is about sh100,000 per month. Commuters at lower levels of income must not spend more than 17% of their monthly income, for instance, for a Gaba-Kampala return trip, the commuter should pay only sh600 and sh300 for a single trip.
This must be a graduated fare scheme, where passengers boarding at the city centre and alighting at Nsambya pay sh100, those alighting at Kansanga pay sh200 and the rest pay sh300 up to Gaba.
To achieve paying loads, the big buses must be given route monopolies so that they continue running even if some trips do not make more than 10% load factors.
The monopolistic or oligopolistic route operations will provide for a cross-subsidisation of low income routes by high yields from peak trips and high passenger density routes.
The big buses will also offer safe standing positions, better seats and a higher quality of ride which the micro-buses have never and can never achieve.
The safe and comfort geometry of entrances or exists, width of aisles, low jerk, moderate noise levels and some amount of privacy on large buses make them acceptable to everybody, including the elderly and the sick.
Crawling in and out of the micro-buses will be a nuisance of the past.
Any bus system must use convenient bus stops at intervals of 300 metres, must have weather protection, route information and seating provisions. Safety and security on large buses is obviously greater than on minibuses.
High body collapse resistance and greater numbers of travellers make the big bus safer and securer than UTODA’s vans.
However, as a transport or traffic consultant, I must inform the intending operators and Ugandans that route casting alone will take not less than three months, stages or stops reintroduction five months and the number of buses should not be less than 450.
It is possible that there will not be any dependable large bus in Kampala until October 2004.
The Ministry of Works and Kampala City Council, must be involved in the preparations if we must have a meaningful bus network in the city.