Kigali is undoubtedly a beautiful city. To top that off, it also comes with affordable and user-friendly means. Motorbikes, taxis, bicycles, special hire vehicles, are all available to ease people’s movement from one place to another. 

Here are the common means of transport in the city and the modes of payment used. 

Private taxi 

Taxi is one of the safest transport modes used in Rwanda. Much as hotel concierges can order a taxi for their clients, in most cases, taxi drivers are always parked out at busy restaurants, shopping malls and alongside roads ready to carry people to where they want to go. 

Most taxi cabs have taxi meters that calculate and set fare based on the distance, payment can be made via Momo pay or Airtel money pay or cash.

Motorcycles 

Motorcycles or motorbikes are not the safest, but they are the quickest and fun way to move around the city. They suit short destinations. 

Motorcyclists are normally congregated at bars, bus stops and also moving around the city looking for passengers. When you see a motorbike and want to use it, stick and stretch out your arm, they will stop. All of them provide helmets for safety reasons.

Motorcyclists in Rwanda are fond of telling stories to their passengers, they like that because they think it makes the journey shorter. 

At the end of the journey the price is set by the distance meter (or in some cases negotiable), and the payment can either be mobile payment or cash.

Bus

Local bus transport mode is one of the cheaper modes of transport in Rwanda.

They are accessible from bus parks and bus stops with shuttles that are covered, and have a bench where people sit while waiting for the bus to arrive.

Payment is only through the TAP & GO card.

Bicycles 

This mode of transport has got two different options.

If you need to move by bicycle, you will always find people who ride bicycles outside markets and bus stops.

The second option is renting bicycles from bicycle apps like Gura ride  and   Kigali Rides. Cycling is one of the common sports in Rwanda, the climate and the good roads make Kigali a good city to cycle in. 

In areas like MTN Center Remera, outside Kigali Marriott Hotel, once you have the application in your phone, you can unlock a bike and ride on it.

Does Rwanda have Uber?

Rwanda does not have Uber yet but there are apps that work like Uber, available on Apple store and Play store. Move by Volkswagen and YegoMoto for people to hire cabs.

More about modes of payment mobile payment method

Mobile payment is one of the common methods used by a lot of people in the city. 

This is done through telecommunication lines in Rwanda, which are MTN Rwanda and Airtel-Tigo Rwanda.

To make a payment using the mobile payment, one needs to have a registered sim card, sim cards are attainable from the nearest shop of Airtel-Tigo and MTN Rwanda.

Having a sim card requires a passport or a national Identity card. After obtaining a sim card, you can deposit money on it to make transactions through it.

Upon reaching your destination, you can pay with ‘Momo pay’ and ’Airtelmoney pay’. You can pay with it by simply dialling *182 and you follow the prompts.

Tap & Go

A commuter pays his transport fee through Tap and Go before boarding a bus in Kigali 

Tap and go is a payment mode used only in public buses.

This mode requires a card, before entering the bus, one needs to tap on the tapping machine that automatically deducts money from the card. The card is bought at 1000 Rwf and it comes with a deposit of 500 Rwf on it to use, one needs to recharge money on the card to keep using it.