The Association of Commuter Taxi Drivers (Atraco) is planning to start a taxi rotation system in the City of Kigali as a way of reducing taxi jamming in the city centre. According to the president of the association, Col. (rtd) Dodo Twahirwa, passengers will no longer be required to gather around Rubangura bus stop in the city centre to get taxis, Under the new arrangement, taxis will collect passengers wherever they will be along designated roads. I am optimistic that the system will be convenient for both the passengers and drivers and will save the city from problems of congestion, Dodo said in an interview. He however did not disclose the exact date on which this plan will be implemented. Currently, Rubangura stage serves as the only stage in the city centre following the closure of Kigali main taxi park whose plot was given to investors for real estate development. In this new system we shall have no taxi stages and all taxis operating in the city centre will be given directives of rotating around the city to pick waiting passengers, Twahirwa said. He observed that Rubangura stage sometimes gets congested causing a lot of problems to passengers, including theft, especially during evening hours. The situation there is insecure especially in the evening due to huge crowds and overwhelming disorder. We have reports that some passengers have lost their belongings during the process of boarding taxis, Dodo said. We want to get rid of this chaos and provide appropriate transport service to passengers around the country, the liberation war hero added. The Atraco boss further noted that as a way of providing efficient transport service to passengers across the nation, the association has recently imported 25 passenger service vans which have started operating. We have made many more orders for mini-buses and coasters which are expected in the country soon, he explained.Ends
