KAMPALA | Kampala City Metropolitan BRT System

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the Kampala city brt system is going to be built in the next 2 years construction will start this year and pioneer bus the company to run the system has already ordered 500 buses to cater for Kampala it will help de congest the city and introduce a new working transport system to help the city roads and get rid of the matatus . this is huge for kampala.



Uganda Travel And Tourism News: Pioneer Easy Bus Services Gets 5 Year Contract


Pioneer Easy Bus services have been awarded a five year contract by Kampala City Council (KCC).

The company's managing director, David Baingana has told journalists that the renewable contract will allow them to operate in two zones covering the Eastern and Western parts of the greater Kampala.

Baingana says the zones include areas of Bwayise, Luzira, Ntinda, Kasubi, Makerere and Ndeeba among others.

He adds that they expect to receive 100 buses within the next 120 days before the project kicks off in 4 months time.


City firms to bring in more buses
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By Al-Mahdi Ssenkabirwa (email the author)


Posted Tuesday, April 5 2011 at 09:08
Kampala

Public transport users in Kampala may soon get rid of the uncomfortable commuter taxis if plans by bus service companies to bring new buses yield results.

Pioneer Easy Bus Company, which has for the last three years been piloting a bus transport service in Kampala, has already ordered at least 500 new buses–a move KCC says would aid their plan to decongest the city. “Our pilot project ends today (yesterday) and it is time for implementation,” Mr Nathan Kibike, the company operations manager, said yesterday.

The new buses, he said, are expected in the country in three months. As a sign of appreciation, the company chose to transport passengers free of charge the entire day yesterday. The company is expected to unveil its full implementation plan today at Serena Hotel in Kampala. Mr Chris Kakama, the managing director of City Bus Services, said he was also in negotiations with a Japanese bus company to supply them with the fleet.

Dawn of a wide plan
In early 2007, KCC rolled out a pilot project for a comprehensive city bus service to replace commuter taxis which are blamed for the city traffic congestion. Outgoing city mayor Nasser Sebaggala, who insists the proposed bus project is his brainchild, was upbeat about the development. “People have been accusing me of promising them air but thank God the project has started to take shape,” he said.

City Town Clerk David Naluwairo said establishing a city bus system is part of the wider Kampala Metropolitan transport master plan recently drawn by government. “There has been no streamlined system of bringing buses but we are happy that the process is through. We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Pioneer Easy Bus,” he said.

Under the new plan, Mr Naluwairo said street parking will be abolished in some areas to provide more space, bus lanes will be demarcated in addition to constructing modern bus terminals outside the city. The Uganda Taxi Operators and Driver Association, which had earlier resisted a bus system in the city, recently gave in, saying they were ready to benefit from it by introducing 35-seater coaster buses to replace the 14-seater taxis.

[wotwot]

good news

[u.g boy]

Uganda Business News: Pioneer Bus Company To Import 512 Buses

The Pioneer Bus Company will import 512 buses from Japan to improve the transport system in Kampala.

The Pioneer Bus Company Managing Director David Ndemeirwe says they currently have 13 buses doing transport in Kampala which were imported from Japan for research purposes for 3 three years.

Ndemeirwe however, says the 13 buses will be put off the roads as the company awaits to import the first batch of 100 buses in a period of 3 months.

He says the reason of suspending the buses from the roads is among others using them (buses) to train the drivers who will be employed to drive the awaited fleet of buses.

Mpereirwe says the transport fee will be paid per kilometer traveled using an automated system and they will work around Kampala.

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Pioneer Easy Bus set to introduce electronic pay buses
POSTED ON APRIL 5, 2011 BY ADMINISTRATOR
By Priscilla Muhairwe

Pioneer Easy Bus Limited, a local transport service provider is set to launch a new modern city bus transport service in and around Kampala

Pioneer’s Director, David Baingana said with the service, passengers will be charged basing on the number of kilometers travelled and will have their fares deducted electronically from plastic smart cards through two on board validators.

“On a single route basis, commuters on Pioneer Buses have on average been paying about a 50% of the fare charged by our counterparts in the local transport industry and these will not change,” the director said.

The Pioneer buses, manufactured in China by Yutong, the largest bus manufacturer in the world will have a total carriage capacity of 60 commuters; 30 seated and 30 standing commuters.

While announcing this development Baingana said that the company which has been operating since Sept 2007, will start a fully integrated commuter operation following the award of a 5 year concession to operate bus services in the Eastern and Western zones of the Greater Kampala. A total of 522 buses will be required to optimally serve this entire area.

‘’We are delighted that we will take delivery of the first batch of 100 buses within the next 120 days and thereafter we will expect three subsequent batches of 100 buses at 45 day intervals with the last batch comprising of the final 122buses,’’ added Baingana.

The bus service is aimed at providing Ugandans with modern public transport services and will offer affordable and scheduled services to all city commuters in the areas such as Mukono, Luzira Bweyogere, Ntinda, Naalya and Kasubi, among others.

The new bus service is expected to help decongest the city using vehicle optimization while offering the best services to city dwellers. Buses will operate 20hr daily shifts a day on a scheduled timetable and will stop only at designated bus stops which will be easily identified by destination signage and route numbers.

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Easy Bus suspends city service
Thursday, 7th April, 2011
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Passengers board a Pioneer bus in Kampala. The firm has halted operations for three months
By Samuel Sanya

PIONEER Easy Bus has temporarily suspended its bus services pending the importation of new buses from China.

This follows the signing of a five-year contract with Kampala City Council on Tuesday.

The joint venture between Pioneer Motor Company Zimbabwe and Easy Bus Uganda currently runs 13 buses on the Kampala – Mukono- Luzira routes.

“We have suspended operations for the next three to four months as we await the arrival of the 522 buses from China,” David Baingana, the Pioneer Easy Bus director, said yesterday.

He explained that three of the 13 buses were being fitted with an automated ticketing system, while the rest were being used to test the ability of new drivers who needed to have upgraded their driving permits to drive the buses from China.

Baingana said his firm had secured a credit agreement with Chinese firm Yutong to supply the buses at $50m.

He said the agreement provided for the training of some 50 technicians in China.

This, he added, would be done during the next three months. “The first batch of 100 buses shall be delivered within the next 120 days. Thereafter, we will expect three subsequent batches of 100 buses at 45-day intervals and a final batch of 122 buses,” Baingana said.

The development is bound to send ripples down the Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA) who currently command 70% of the traffic on all major routes in Kampala city.

Pioneer Easy Bus has been operating on a pilot scheme for the past 40 months before the signing of the contract with Kampala City Council that gave them exclusive rights over the eastern and western routes of the Greater Kampala Metropolitan areas.

The Bus Company is to construct bus terminals in Mukono, Luzira, Bweyogerere, Ntinda, Naalya, Kasubi, Bulenga, kyengera and Ndeeba.

Officials from UTODA could not be reached for a comment.

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522 buses to ease movement in city
MONDAY, 11 APRIL 2011 05:45 ESTHER OLUKA

Pioneer Easy directors David Baingana (left) and Ndemeire at the press conference. Photo by Esther Oluka

KAMPALA, UGANDA - Kampala, like most East African cities faces congestion and transport is a major problem.
With no organised transport system in place, traffic jams are a common sight all over East Africa especially during rush hours.
The situation is bound to change in Kampala, after two new developments were announced in the transport sector.
Pioneer Easy Bus Limited, a transport company that has been running a city bus service on a limited scale, is rolling out a new modern city bus transport service for commuters covering the Greater Kampala Metropolitan area (GKMA).
This comes at a time when Rift Valley Railways is finalising plans to start a city passenger service.
Pioneer announced at a press conference in Kampala last week that it will start a new integrated, affordable and reliable transport service that will help to decongest the city.
Mr. David Baingana, the Pioneer Easy Bus Director, said the company will start a bigger commuter service after it was granted a five-year period to operate in the Eastern and Western zones of greater Kampala with a total of nine routes.
"The 522 buses which are manufactured in China will have a total carriage capacity of 60 passengers where 30 will be seated while the others stand and these will be charged on the basis of kilometers travelled which will be UShs70 ( about 1$ cent) per km, " explained Baingana.
Commuters on Pioneer buses have on average been paying about 50% ($ 0.21) of the fare charged by other counterparts in the local transport industry.
The first batch of 100 buses is expected in town within 120 days and thereafter, three subsequent batches of 100 buses at 45 day intervals with the last batch comprising of the final 122 buses expected by the end of June.
A new statutory instrument containing traffic and road safety regulations which took effect in February 2011 will control the urban public transport in a more regimented way than before.
These include the designation of bus routes, fixed bus stops, scheduled time tables, special bus lanes within the central business district and an organized ticketing system.
"These buses will operate 20-hour daily shifts a day on a scheduled time table and will stop only at designated bus stops which will be easily identified by destination signage and route numbers," Baingana said.
The plan, however, looks ambitious considering that human traffic reduces after 11pm and with the cost of fuel going to unprecedented levels it is is not clear how the schedule will be run. Analysts say a more realistic schedule could be between 5am to 11pm meaning an 18-hour shift.
Baingana said the project is expected to create an estimated 5,000 jobs directly while another 8,000 to 10,000 jobs indirectly and these will be filled by applicants sourced through a local transport co-operative. The buses will operate within a 20km radius from the city and possibly up to 40kms to Entebbe.




Kampala gears for transport revolution
MONDAY, 11 APRIL 2011 06:05 JOSEPH OLANYO
Kampala, Uganda - City passenger train services that were halted 15 years ago are now ready to resume, a move expected to considerably ease transportation costs, congestion and notorious traffic jams that have become a common feature in Kampala. The city service train will initially run from Namanve, a forest town 18km west of Kampala city, and will be expanded to other areas of the city outskirts.

Rift Valley Railways (RVR) company who operate the railway in both Uganda and Kenya, is only waiting for the Government nod to roll out the service.
"We are ready. We have officially written to the Government, and we are waiting for the approval, then we start business," Mr James Nyambari, the RVR General Manage said last week.


Nyambari said RVR is planning test runs towards the end of April. The free runs will acquaint passengers with the long awaited service.
"This is a pilot project and our major concern is Namanve to Kampala city. When it gets momentum, we shall move on to other areas," he said.
In an exclusive interview with East African Business Week, Nyambari said, the passenger service train will be operating five coaches each with a sitting capacity of 100 people.
He said there is always a provision for standing, which will make the number go up..
"Our running time from Namanve to Kampala will be 30 minutes including stoppages at specifically designed locations," Nyambari said.
According to the schedule, the train will operate four trips a day, leaving Namanve for Kampala at 6:30am arriving Kampala at 7:00am.
The second train will leave Namanve at 7:30am arriving Kampala city at 8:00am.
In the evenings, the first train will be leaving Kampala train station at 6:00pm and 7:00pm respectively.
Passengers living within the reach of the railway can wait for the service at particular spots.
RVR has designed a number of places where the train can drop or pick passengers.
They include among others City Abattoir popularly known as meat packers in Industrial Area, Kataza near Makerere University Business School (MUBS) and Interfreight Junction in Nakawa Industrial Area.
The service is expected to ease passenger transport considerably in greater Kampala as buses and taxis compete with the train.
The development comes at a time when the bus town service is also taking shape. Pioneer Easy Bus Ltd, a company contracted by government to run bus town services announced last week that it is bringing in additional 522 buses to ease transportation.
The buses have a capacity of 60 passengers, 30 sitting and others standing.
RVR contends that it will offer a premium service that will minimise time and costs of transportation to and from the city.
In the 2002 census, Kampala had 1.2 million people as residents, and a projected 3.6 million during the day.
However, according to current Kampala City Council's (KCC) estimates, the resident population is about 1.8 million people, while the day time population stands at around 4.5 million. The city was initially planned for 500,000 people.
According to KCC's three-year development plan (2009-2012), the rising population is the reason service delivery remains a challenge.
With the two transport modules operating, this will be a big relief for city residents who not only commute daily and pay exorbitant fares to the unruly omnibus taxi operators, but have also endured the poor customer care and suffering at the hands of the conductors.
It will further reduce on the traffic jams, cost of transportation and the imprompt fare hikes by taxi operators.

[u.g boy]

Plan to Revamp Kampala Transport out

The city of Kampala could resemble India's Calcutta if a plan to introduce non-motorized transport falls through. The plan to be executed by experts from Israel and the Netherlands is aimed at promoting sustainable development and at the same time decongesting the city.


Non-motorised transport ideas resisted



A plan by the government to introduce non motorized transport in Kampala as a way of decongesting the city has been met with stiff resistance from experts who say that the plan is not feasible. Leading transport consultant Eng. Merion Tibabiganya believes such mode of transport is not suitable for a city that is not well planned, and argues that it can only stand a chance, if there is political will to remove UTODA commuter taxis from the city's narrow streets, put an end to street trading, and enhance regulation of street parking.

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Kampala gets new transport services
Business
Written by Milly Kibombo
Wednesday, 20 April 2011 20:46
A fleet of new buses are expected to ply different routes in Kampala, offering cheaper and more effective transport.

The first batch of one hundred buses is expected within three months. The subsequent batches will come in at a 45-day interval, according to the company behind the initiative. The project is engineered by Pioneer Easy Bus Company.

Yutongo, a Chinese bus manufacturer, has been contracted to make the buses with 60 carriage capacity. Pioneer’s intention is to offer cheap and reliable means of public transport, the company says, as well as easing congestion in Kampala.

David Baingana, Pioneer Easy Bus Director, said the project is exclusive and will initially run for a period of five years with plans to renew their contract with KCC.

“The buses will offer integrated, reliable, affordable, frequent and efficient scheduled transport services to all city commuters in the city,” Baingana said.

With Pioneer buses, transport fares are expected to drop by a half. The fares are to be charged on the basis of the number of kilometres travelled and they will be deducted electronically.

“We will see passengers paying as low as Shs 200 depending on the distance travelled. The gargets are fitted inside the bus for everybody to see, so there won’t be any cheating,” Baingana added.

The company will have terminals in Kakiri on Hoima Road, Kyengera on Masaka Road, Mukono and Bweyogerere on Jinja highway as well as Luzira. The buses will pick and drop passengers only at designated bus stops.

At least 800 bus stops and shelters are to be built to facilitate the bus operations as the bus company is not supposed to use existing infrastructure apart from specific parking lanes along some roads. Drivers are already being trained at Namboole and each bus will require three drivers to share in a 20-hour shift per day.

The project is estimated to create 4,000 direct jobs and another 8,000-10,000 indirect jobs. The move poses a threat to the business of the over 8,000 omnibuses and thousands of boda boda cyclists. “They will be eliminated by natural economies of scale. We are not fighting anybody but will they gradually be phased out,” Bainagna said.

About 854,500 passengers use the commuter taxi services in the city daily, according to pre-feasibility studies for the development of a long-term integrated bus rapid transit system for the greater Kampala metropolitan area.

[u.g boy]

KCCA gets Shs40b, to suspend parking
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By Robert Mwanje (email the author)
Posted Saturday, June 11 2011 at 00:00
Kampala

The current street parking arrangement is to be suspended to pave way for new lanes for busses under the new Bus Rapid Transport System, officials at the Kampala Capital City Authority have said.

The announcement was made yesterday as news emerged that the government had allocated Shs43 billion to KCCA to improve the city road network. Talking to Saturday Monitor, the Executive Director, Ms Jeniffer Musisi, said the funds will be allocated to different divisions depending on need.

The funds will, however, be controlled at the headquarters and not at divisions contrary to earlier government position. “I am so happy with the Shs43 billion road fund allocated to KCCA. I believe this will take us to another step as far as improving city roads is concerned,” Ms Musisi said.

She said more funds are expected to tackle other city sectors. Under the new KCCA Act, the executive director is mandated to be the accounting officer for all the five city divisions, including Kampala Central, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa and Rubaga.The funds allocation to KCCA is above the usual Shs15 billion which has always been allocated to Kampala City Council annually. KCCA caters for 900 kilometres of roads in the five divisions of Kampala.

The city headquarters primarily takes care of the tarmac roads while the divisions are responsible for the gravel roads. Out of the 900-kilometre road network in Kampala, 600 kilometres are of gravel roads with several potholes. Majority of Kampala roads were built during the colonial days and have outlived their usefulness.

Last year, former Kampala mayor Hajj Nasser Sebaggala said about Shs345 billion is needed to reconstruct the entire city road network. He said repairs are a temporally solution to the worn-out city roads demanding total reconstruction.

Addressing journalists on Thursday, KCCA spokesperson Simon Muhumuza, said road side parking will also be suspended at the commencement of the new roads’ project expected soon.

Clear plan
“Our clear plan is to encourage a mass transport system. We want a faster system than the private cars but safer than boda-boda,” Mr Muhumuza said. Under the new arrangement, several routes will be re-organised to encourage use of public transport to curb traffic congestion in the city.

KCCA will, however, work with private companies to enforce the new system. “We shall encourage the public-private partnership because certain things will not be done by the authority. For example, we shall not own the buses, instead we shall create lanes and level the ground for their quick performance,” he said.

Currently, street parking is managed by Multiplex Limited, a local trading company, contracted by the city authority at Shs240 million per month and is responsible for managing at least 5,000 parking slots.

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City buses come in October
Friday, 12th August, 2011
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By John Semakula

COMMUTERS from Kampala’s suburbs may be paying as low as sh500 to the city centre when a new fleet of buses arrives in October.

Longer routes like Mukono-Kampala will cost sh1,000.

The streets are being modified to create bus stops and ticketing centres to accommodate the bus transport system.

Pioneer Easy Bus, a registered transport service provider contracted by KCCA to provide a five-year bus service, said yesterday that the first 100 buses will arrive in the first two weeks of October.

This is not the first time the company is making such promises. Similar promises were made in the past but it failed to deliver.

But Simon Muhumuza, the KCCA spokesperson, said he was hopeful Pionner Easy Bus would do a good job. “In the past they have been telling us that the buses are coming and they didn’t. But this time they seem set. We advertised the tender, they applied and won it. I think they will perform.”

“The buses will operate in a radius of 23km from the city centre,” said Fred Ssenoga, the company’s executive director.

The brand new buses were ordered from China, unlike the used ones that were on trial till June.

Pioneer is to import a total of 522 buses from Chinese manufacturer Yutongo, at $80m (sh208b).

“We will receive 100 buses every 30 to 45 days and the last batch will arrive in the first quarter of 2012,” Ssenoga said.

KCCA said several changes would occur on the streets in preparation for the buses.

“KCCA will build shelters at bus-stops and some of the lanes managed by Multiplex will be demarcated as bus parks,” Ssenoga explained.

The company will recruit drivers and turn-boys. The bus project is expected to create 4,000 direct jobs and another 8,000-10,000 indirect jobs.

The Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers’ Association (UTODA) have reason to worry but are preparing to cope.

“We are also planning to buy buses,” said UTODA chairman John Ndyomugenyi.

In February, a new Statutory Instrument on traffic and road safety regulations took effect and will regulate urban public transport in a more regimented way than before.

The rules include the designation of bus routes, fixed bus stops, special bus lanes within the central business district, scheduled timetables and an organised ticketing system.

Although it was anticipated that KCC would throw taxis out of Kampala with the coming of buses, Ssenoga said they would work side-by-side.

“We shall be charging our passengers 50% of the fare taxis charge and we are sure that within a very short period, we shall have 95% of the passengers using buses. With that, taxis will have no choice but leave Kampala,” he said.

Ssenoga added that buses will bring to an end the nasty traffic jams that usually engulf the city and its neighbourhood during the rush hours.

“One bus will take a big number of passengers compared to taxis, which will reduce the jam. At the same time, buses will not be stopping at every point like the taxis do.”

With the 522 buses in Kampala, there will be several terminals in Kakiri on Hoima Road, Kyengera on Masaka Road, Mukono and Bweyogerere on Jinja highway as well as Luzira. The buses will pick and drop passengers only at designated bus stops.

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No Easy buses - yet
SATURDAY, 03 SEPTEMBER 2011 10:54 BY JULIUS BUSINGE

a pioneer bus stop built in lugogo before the buses have even arrived .

It’s not easy walking anywhere in Kampala, with the growing vehicle, boda boda and pedestrian traffic on the streets. It’s even tougher walking past a public transport stage at boarding time.

Walking past the bus-taxi stage on Kampala Road, next to Constitutional Square around 6:00 p.m. recently, I found myself hugging an electric pole, stampeded by a crowd fighting to enter the Dream Shuttle bus, one of the buses currently serving the city.

Touts calling passengers to “Bweyogerere-Mukono-Seeta” taxis, parked almost empty a few meters ahead, were ignored. Even those left when the Dream Shuttle filled up said they would wait for the next bus.

“Travelling by bus is much more comfortable than taxis,” Moses Segawa, who commutes daily between Mukono and the city centre, told The Independent. “Buses make fewer stops and are cheaper. I save as much as Shs 3,500 a week.”

The US$ 33 million (almost Shs 90 billion) deal awarded to Pioneer Easy Bus Limited (PEB) by Kampala City Council (KCC) (now Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) in May last year to manage passenger bus services was just what city commuters like Segawa needed.

Beating five other bidders, PEB got a 5-year contract expected to eventually put 522 60-passenger buses on the eastern and western routes of Kampala, almost certainly edging most public service taxis.

The first 100 buses had been expected to hit the streets in June this year. But the company is yet to put a single bus on the streets. And growing questions in Parliament about the manner in which the contract was awarded are dampening the company’s assurances that the buses would arrive in October.

KCCA Executive Director, Jennifer Musisi Kiwanuka, spent the past few weeks before Parliament’s Physical Infrastructure Committee answering charges that the manner in which the bus contract was awarded was irregular, which nullified it.

The contract was awarded under the old KCC in May 2010, and PEB was expected to import 522 buses starting with 100 June 2011.

But MPs – notably Kampala Central MP Mohammed Nsereko and Shadow Minister for Local Government Betty Nambooze - say the tender was not advertised, neither was Parliament informed as required, violating the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets regulations.

Nsereko said the contract had to be investigated before PEB started business or it would be considered to be operating illegally. But Musisi told the committee she had found no problem with the procurement and had cleared the company to proceed.

She said in the long-term, buses would phase out taxis and decongest the city, a statement that could not have pleased the Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (UTODA), which holds a contract to run city transport till 2014.

However, Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago said he had not heard of the contract, and further disagreed with the intention of edging taxis out of the city, preferring instead that they operate side by side.

Nambooze said decongesting the city was a good idea, “but is being done in a bad way.” She told The Independent that the Physical Infrastructure Committee had heard that PEB’s agreement to buy 522 buses from the Chinese manufacturer Yutong for US$ 33million had been guaranteed by the Uganda government.

“This is dangerous because if Pioneer fails to pay, the tax payer will foot the bill,” she said.

Nambooze was also concerned that the contract promoted a monopoly for PEB before it demonstrated any capacity to serve it. “You can’t just give all this business to one company, when it has many competitors in the market,” she said.

Pioneer speaks

Given the high-profile connections of the company’s shareholders, it should be no surprise that PEB ran into controversy. Its owners include Kenlloyd Logistics Uganda Limted, owned by Albert Muganga, husband to Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa’s daughter, Ishta Kutesa; and Matthew Rukikaire, former minister for Privatization. The others are Atlantic Holdings Ltd, Urban Public Transport Company Ltd and Delux Solutions Ltd.

PEB Executive Director Fred Senoga dismissed the MPs’ accusations.

“All authorities have endorsed the deal. KCCA councillors sat recently with city authorities and found no problem with our contract,” Senoga told The Independent. “We are continuing with preparations for the first batch of buses to be here by October.”

Under the 5-year contract, PEB is required to pay Shs 300,000 per bus per month, an income of Shs 30 million for 100 buses, which will gradually rise to about Shs 160 million a month with all 522 buses. The company is also expected to construct 600 bus shelters.

Senoga said the company had missed its June deadline for the first 100 buses due to long procurement procedures and the need to train staff.

Senoga said each bus would have 2 drivers - meaning 200 jobs created by October, and a total of 1,044 in 5 years.

The commuting public waiting for more efficient and reliable public transportation can only hope that the buses indeed do come in October.

[u.g boy]

Pioneer EasyBus


State of the art urban transport for Kampala Metropolitan

[kiligoland]

nice , yutong bus are really nice

[Mintali]

Nice buses, hope the mad Kampala drivers dont dent them to death.

[u.g boy]

[kampalakid]

[kampalakid]

Pioneer Easy buses to offer 24-hour service
Publish Date: Dec 28, 2011

Pioneer Easy Bus
By John Semakula

Pioneer Easy Bus, the company behind the city bus project that has several times failed to beat their own deadlines of entering the transport industry has released the conditions under which it expects to “operate” next month.

According to the conditions, the buses will operate 24 hours and that to ensure that the passengers are safe; “each bus will be manned by three drivers and turn-boys working in shifts of eight hours.

Pioneer Easy Bus had promised to roll out its services on city roads mid this year but delayed due to unclear reasons. The company has since set January as the deadline for joining the transport business.

Herbert Mucunguzi, the company’s marketing manager, told New Vision on Wednesday that the buses will also have special security cameras mounted on them to monitor passengers for security reasons.

The company is importing the buses in phases and the first batch of 100 buses is reportedly on its way from China where they have been assembled. The buses are expected to be in the country early January.

The cameras, Mucunguzi said, will detect people who impersonate passengers and board the buses only to end up stealing other passengers’ property.

“The thieves will be arrested even after they have disembarked from the buses,” Mucunguzi said.

The buses will also have special sections for different groups of people including the disabled, Mucunguzi said, adding that the intention is to make the buses more user friendly to all groups of people.

“We shall have different classes of people sitting in different sections. We want everyone to feel comfortable because our plan is to make people leave their cars at home and use the buses,” he said.

A person may also not have to move with transport fees all the time because the passengers will be expected to use smart cards which they will swipe on the door ways while embarking.

Mucunguzi said that the company will issue out smart cards which passengers will use for a day, week, month or year. Companies may also buy the cards for their employees.

With the increasing number of road accidents in the country, Mucunguzi said that the buses have been made in the way that their engines are at the back to reduce their power while running.

The company also plans to construct bus terminals outside Kampala at the end of their first year of operation which will be the stopping points for vehicles from upcountry.

Many developed countries today use bus services because they help in reducing the traffic jams and are cheap to use compared the matatu and taxis but Uganda has taken long to go on board.

[u.g boy]

City bus service ready to roll
Business
By Edris Kiggundu
12/30/11, 364 17 2011 10:17
After months of anxiety and doubts, Pioneer Easy Bus (PEB) said last week that the first shipment of 100 buses will arrive in the country by the end of January.

Herbert Mucunguzi the marketing manager of PEB, told The Observer that the consignment of the buses had arrived at Mombasa and were only awaiting clearance. The gazetting of the bus stages is already underway.

However, it will not be until December 2012 that the total 522 buses will arrive. “We want to change the face of public transport in this country. People must move comfortably wherever they go,” Mucunguzi said.

Since it won the contract to run public transport in the city in 2009, PEB has been under pressure to deliver on its promises. Initially the buses were supposed to be in the country by December 2011. In 2007, the firm undertook a pilot project where it deployed 20 buses on various routes in the city and according to Mucunguzi, it was successful.

The 60-passenger buses (that will have 30 people seated and another 30 standing) will coexist with the commuter taxis that currently dominate public transport. Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has permitted the company to operate within a radius of 30km from the city. Since they will have only 100 buses available at the start, they will only ply three routes.

The first route will include the areas of Bweyogerere, Kireka, Banda and Nakawa, while the second will encompass Nakawa, Port Bell, Luzira and Kirombe. The third route will start from Stretcher, Ntinda and Bukoto.

Mucunguzi says PEB will come with innovations in the sector. For instance, passengers will choose whether to purchase weekly or monthly bus tickets from the company’s sales points.

“This is more convenient because we do not want our staff to handle [too much] money in the bus,” said Mucunguzi. PEB says their service will be 24 hours, the reason each bus shall have three drivers and conductors who will work in a shift of eight hours per day.

To improve on its image, battered by allegations that it won the contract under controversial circumstances, the firm has contracted Spin Group, a PR firm, to market their services.

Mucunguzi says once all buses arrive and the envisaged bus terminals in various parts of the city are built, the investment will be worth $60 million (Shs 1.4 trillion) and will create more than 3,500 jobs.

[u.g boy]

[xJamaax]

Good for you UG!

Are there plans to phase out matatus in cities across UG?

I still think most people will prefer matatus because of convenience.