It is 10 AM, and we are in Nyabugogo bus park. A lot of noise arising from different buses can easily be detected. A commuter bus driver is standing in front of his bus, watching travellers tapping their cards on bus meters as a way of payment for their journey. Wearing a broad smile, the man greets us. “Good Morning,” he beams, ushering us into a seventy people public bus. “This is my working public bus. As I board the bus, I immediately connect to Tap&Go wifi and catch up on work emails and chats.” Innocent Gatanazi Elias is aged 40, more than ten of his years were spent in this profession. He tells us he is a father of four when we visited him at his workplace. He is a resident of Kimisagara Sector in Nyarugenge District. Gatanazi is one of the drivers, who experienced the change in the transport system from paying cash to adapting a new method known as “Tap&Go ” “We are now at ease, no more stress. We had to deal with lots of inconveniences ranging from bargaining over prices, delays while looking for change and so forth which consumed our time.” He recalls. He is saying this because today, all these inefficiencies have been addressed by Tap&Go payment system. According to him, drivers no longer have to deal with cash issues and delays that they often had to take the blame for. Though Public transport has for a couple of years been viewed as means for those who are not doing well economically, today it has undergone massive transition and with Generation 2 starting on 1st of May, public transport is set to become the preferred means of transport. Along with Tap&Go, 4G free Tap&Go wifi was another big advancement in the public transport sector where passengers connect to fast and seamless 4G wifi. AC Group took over the connectivity project in 2019 and passengers have since enjoyed their commutes while connecting with friends and family on social media and other sites they fancy. The move is in line with Rwanda’s goal to become a digital economy by 2024. The speed on Tap&Go wifi have been commended by passengers through various positive reactions on social media. Tap&Go creating market opportunities for SMEs Following the launch of Tap&Go in 2015, AC Group has created over 500 jobs and projected to increase to 800 with their expansion into intercity transport. With these jobs, some individuals have been able to create SMEs as super agents and earn more than Rwf 100,000,000 annually. AC Group has also trained field technicians from TVETs that today are skilled to handle, maintain and repair all gadgets installed in buses without requiring external technical support. According to Allen Kendunga, the AC Group Public Relations and Director of Communications, “AC Group continues to create opportunities of upskilling through the different innovations that they are bringing to the market.” Addressing revenue leakages With cash handling, there are many loopholes for leakages. This was one of the biggest challenges that bus companies faced. Some companies were losing up to 40% of their revenues on some lines because there was no proper system to track revenues and ensure that there were no leakages, AC Group said. Tap&Go was able to help companies to recover between 30%- 40% of the revenues that they were losing. Engineer Deo Muvunyi, the senior manager in charge of transport licensing in the Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Authority, is a witness of the fact. “Transport companies have benefited from reduced revenue leakages because all the revenues go electronically through the banks without first passing through many hands.”, Deo Muvunyi told The New Times. The Tap&Go system allowed the government to have a way of collecting data and analysis patterns in public transport. With such information, the government has been able to make data-driven decisions that impact every Rwanda. It is only wise to expect with the new investment, Tap&Go will probably extend its reach beyond the land of a thousand hills and go to other countries, as well as disrupt other markets in the region, Africa and the world at large. Expansion of Tap&Go into Nairobi and the motor taxi spaces Tap&Go expanded to intercity transport and has reached 15 bus companies with a plan to launch the remaining buses within March. In partnership with MaraPhones, they are also launching the Intelligent Moto metering system this month. Tap&Go finished a successful proof of concept in Nairobi and is now scaling up with both the bus companies as well as SACCOs.
