KBS abandons city routes, in talks with Rura

Rwanda Utility Regulatory Agency (RURA) has summoned the management of Kigali Bus Services (KBS), a local transport company, over the halting of its operations on Kigali City routes. KBS commenced upcountry operations, withdrawing over 30 minibuses that formerly plied the city routes. It was one of the largest private passenger transporters in Kigali City.However, the management later withdrew all the buses working within the city and concentrated more on the upcountry routes, a move that is likely to cause shortage in public transport in the city.Speaking to The New Times, Regis Gatarayiha, the Director General of RURA, said the regulatory body is currently in talks with the KBS in an effort to solve the problem. “We are in talks with them to find out why they withdrew their buses from Kigali,” Gatarayiha said.Efforts to reach KBS’s Managing Director, Charles Ngarambe, were futile as he couldn’t pick our calls. But according to an inside source within KBS, who preferred anonymity, the company was making losses as a result of parking fines.The source added that several other transport agencies copied their model, thus reducing on the monopoly that the company enjoyed.“Fines accumulated day by day due to narrow and small parking.”“We were also the ones who started the rotational system within the city, a development we discussed with the concerned authorities and it was agreed that we should have the monopoly but we later realised that many other transport companies were doing the same”.Gatarayiha said the problem of the shortage of transport needed the intervention of other concerned authorities.“It is not an issue that can be solved by one party, it needs engagement with other parties like Kigali City authorities, and to encourage private transport companies to invest more in the sector,” he said.KBS’s withdrawal from the city comes at a time when the state-owned Onatracom has been marred by administrative deficiencies and vehicles dilapidated with only a handful remaining on the road.A report last year indicated that the heavily indebted company has less than 20 buses on the road out of a fleet of 180.

National

KBS abandons city routes, in talks with Rura