Private operators of 30-seat commuter buses in Kigali face an uncertain future following plans to phase them out on all City trunk routes connecting zones to the central business district and to the Nyabugogo main bus terminus.

The plan, confirmed by the Rwanda Federation of Transport Co-operative (RFTC) aims to modernise transport in the capital. All commuter buses below 35-seat capacity will be redeployed to new routes with insufficient capacity and those currently plied by minibuses in peri-urban areas.

The move comes a year to the expiry of a five-year service contract under which public service transport providers are required to upgrade their fleet.

RFTC chairman Twahirwa Dodo told Rwanda Today that only short routes would be served by the 25-30 seat buses in the changes coming into force in a few months. He also confirmed that his co-operative had already ordered for bigger buses.

“We have ordered more than 40 modern buses, which are suitable for transport in the city. This is in line with plans for modernising public transport to the level of the growth of the city,” he said.

Operators using 30-seaters on trunk routes across the four zones of Kigali city have been given a three-month notice to upgrade to higher capacity buses. Mr Dodo would neither comment on when the deadline is due or provide more details about the plan. Sector regulator Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) denied the plan applied to national routes, describing the development as an industry initiative that was already covered under the existing service contracts.

Public Transport in Kigali city’s four zones is divided between three public transport providers namely, Kigali Bus Service (KBS), Royal Express Ltd and Rwanda Federation of Transport Co-operatives (RFTC), which operates in two zones.

They all have trunk routes originating from zones under their management to the Central Business District and Nyabugogo terminus, alongside short routes and intra-zonal routes stipulated in the five-year contract each signed with RURA in August 2013.

The service contract requires them to deploy modern, smart and large capacity buses to further decongest the trunk roads under their management. Kigali Bus Services (KBS) had been the only transport company using large capacity buses on city routes. According to RURA, it is time other operators followed suit in replacing 30 seaters with bigger buses as is stipulated in the contracts they signed.
Emmanuel Katabarwa, the head of the transport department at RURA told Rwanda Today that he found nothing new in operators phasing out the use of small buses on the city’s trunk roads since some had already been bringing them.

“For us the bigger the buses the better,” he said, dismissing operators’ concerns that the plan could be bad for business since they will be locked out of profitable routes.

For instance, according to RFTC, its trunk routes such as Nyabugogo-Kimironko and CBD-Kimironko, will soon have all 30 seaters removed to pave the way for bigger buses.

Only short routes like those covering Kimisagara, Nyakabanda and Nyamirambo, would still be served by coasters.

The number of 30 seaters likely to be affected could not immediately be established but Mr Twahirwa said none would be affected since there are many profitable but underserved routes in need of additional capacity. These include those currently served by the few 14-seater minibuses remaining in public transport. Some of the routes had been shunned due to the poor state of the roads, resulting in high operating costs due to frequent breakdowns.

“Coasters are going to suffer the same fate minibuses suffered because authorities say they are no longer a suitable mode of transport in the city. It is going to be hard for someone who is still paying a loan for his vehicle,” said an operator registered with RFTC.

The government ordered a gradual phase-out of microbuses in 2012, and encouraged 25-seaters with tax incentives. There are suggestions that the phase out of the latter on city roads could also extend to operators plying national upcountry routes where coasters are a common mode of public transport.