Most cities in Sub-Saharan Africa rely on paratransit in the form of fourteen- to twenty-seater privately owned and generally old minibus taxis for public transportation. The system is often seen as disorganized, unregulated and inefficient. In Uganda, there are three main ways to get you around if you don’t own your transport means that is boda bodas, omnibus taxis and special hire taxis also known as uber.
In 2015, Kampala had 1.5 million residents and 16,000 minibus taxis that transported 82.6% of the commuters across its five divisions (i.e., Central, Kawempe, Makindye, Nakawa and Lubaga) (Vermeiren et al., 2015; KCCA, 2016; Aggrey, 2017). The remaining 17.4% of commuter travel was shared among private cars, buses and motorcycle taxis (boda bodas). Though many minibus taxis are not officially registered, Kampala's minibus taxi fleet is estimated to be growing at a rate of 5.4% annually (Pablo, 2015; Aggrey, 2017; Jean et al., 2018). Although the minibus taxi ownership structure is fundamentally opaque, reports point to wealthy politicians owning fleets of minibus taxis, several private citizens owning one or two, and groups of individuals pooling funds to co-own one (Stewart-Wilson et al., 2017).
Both the taxis and the boda bodas have their good and bad sides, but use of these two depends on preference, convenience and flexibility. Boda bodas offer quick, efficient, and reasonably priced transport and they will get to your home, hotel or a place you need to visit when all the other traffic is standstill. Most businesses have also adapted using them for delivery services and quick transit of goods within the city and its surroundings. On the other hand, taxis are considered to be more safe than boda bodas and also cheaper in terms of transport fare.
In conclusion, we recommend moderate minibus taxi system transformations and adequate enforcement of paratransit regulations such as regulation of quality, quantity licensing and fares; reorganization of ownership from fragmented to institutionalized shareholding with priority given to the existing owners and shares capped to prevent the domination of the “transport mafia”; vehicle-renewal programs to replace old vehicles with new ones by giving drivers flexible and cheap access to capital; and investment in ICT systems to support scheduling, booking and fare collection.
References
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Jean, T., Priti, G., Paul, K., 2018. Road safety performance review: Uganda. In: Technical
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KCCA, 2016. Multimodal urban transport master plan for greater Kampala metropolitan
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Vermeiren, K., Verachtert, E., Kasaija, P., Loopmans, M., Poesen, J., Van Rompaey, A.,
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Aggrey, N., 2017. The Thriving Taxi Business in Kampala. URL. https://aggreynyondwa.
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Pablo, S.F., 2015. Paratransit: a key element in a dual system. Technical report.
Cooperation for urban mobility in the developing world (CODATU). Paris, France.
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