What is happening to our public transport?
Monday, August 06, 2007
My attention is drawn to the continued shortage of taxis on our roads. At first I thought this problem happens only on weekends but apparently, it is becoming a daily affair. In particular, during rush hours one may think that there are no vehicles for public transport in Kigali City at all. We, the ordinary people who have no personal vehicles find it extremely difficult to get to our workplaces and this has repeatedly landed us in trouble with our bosses. You can hardly go to a bus stop between 7 and 8 am and you get means within less than forty minutes. Sometimes you stand for over one and a half hours.The available Onatracom minibuses are too few, and taxis will always come when they are already full. Apparently, taxis get full while still in taxi parks so do the minibuses. This leaves people who are waiting on the roadsides without means of getting to wherever their destinations are. Places like Chez Lando, Sona Tubes, Kimironko, Kacyiru and others are always packed with many frustrated workers many times.I think it is high time a solution is devised. My humble suggestion is that if the government cannot have a quick remedy, then it should facilitate private investors to easily obtain buses or taxis. Rwanda Private Sector Federation can also help us out by making the issue of public transport a priority by say encouraging investors to consider putting money into this sector.John Mugabe Gasabo