A new public bus management firm projected to fast-track passenger transport, such as through addressing the waiting time issue – especially during off-peak hours – is expected to start operations in the first quarter of 2025, the Minister of Infrastructure, Jimmy Gasore, has said.

He made the observation on Thursday, December 19, while delivering a presentation to a general assembly of the National Consultative Forum of Political Organisations (NFPO).

The presentation focused on national policy and strategies for public transport in Rwanda, especially in Kigali.

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Gasore said that the government is looking for leaders of the company for it to start operations, after the Cabinet approved its establishment.

With this move, he said, scheduled bus departures will follow, regardless of the number of passengers in it, pointing out that "profit and loss will go to the public company.”

Among other reforms in fleet management, he said, there is integrating technology that helps people to know [on their phone] where buses are, where there are passengers, and where they are not.

"The company will do all that so that we have buses that are professionally managed,” he said, adding that "the City of Kigali is expanding such that having one or two staff responsible for public transport is no longer enough for us to deliver good service to Rwandans.”

There are countries that address long waiting times through means including subsidising public transport so that privately owned buses can leave following set schedule. This is intended to ensure that if a bus leaves with few passengers compared to its capacity, the government covers the cost for empty seats, Gasore pointed out.

"You cannot tell a person who got a bank loan to start a bus while empty yet they have to repay it. That is not possible unless, as the government, you get committed to paying for empty seats any time the bus leaves,” he said.

He indicated that the option is very expensive [for the government], going by examples of where such a model is the case, citing Singapore.

Rwanda had not yet reached a level to implement such a model, he said, adding that it decided to set up the company, instead.

The fleet under the company’s management, he said, includes 200 buses [powered by diesel] that were bought by the government recently [late 2023 and early 2024].

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Phanuel Murenzi, an accountant of Liberal Party (PL) said that the current state of public transport does not discourage people from buying private cars – but rather encourages them to do so – as it is marred by some problems, citing long waiting time during off-peak period.

NFPO Spokesperson Alphonse Nkubana said that privately owned buses leave stations or parks soon after reaching there as there are relatively many passengers during peak hours (morning period until 9 am), but they delay in terms of transporting passengers from 3 am to 4 pm as that is an off-peak hour period.

He said that the creation and operationalisation of the company will prevent public transport disruption during off-peak hours, as the government can get means to cover expenses incurred as a result of limited number of passengers.

"For the government, a bus [with 70-passenger capacity] can depart with five or ten passengers, but for a private investor, passengers may take about two hours at a bus station for it to be full,” he said.

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Traffic jam [especially during peak hours] is also among factors that impair the quality of public transport service as it slows movement of buses, Gasore pointed out.

To address this issue, the government plans to implement some projects to ease bus movement such as by upgrading selected junctions in Kigali, having dedicated bus lanes, and road expansion, Gasore observed.

He said that the details of the company’s operations, as well as its name, will be communicated in due course.

Going forward, he said that all new public buses will be electric, in line with the government’s decision.