Boda boda operations will be limited in the Kampala Central Business District (KCBD) while taxis will be assigned specific routes to operate according to new measures introduced by government to streamline public transport in the city ahead of the partial lifting the nation-wide lock down due to the covid -19 pandemic .
This publication had previously made the case that the central government together with KCCA needed to use the Covid-19 lockdown to restore sanity in what had become a chaotic public transport system in Kampala. And , the Minister of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs , Ms. Among Betty Ongom today announced several new measures that are intended to restore law and order in the KCBD.
Among the measures ,government is introducing ,include bodaboda free zones and gazetting boda boda stages . The Minister said that with effect from may 29, 2020 all taxi operators will be required to be assigned parks, stages and routes from where they will operate with a special temporary route charts that will be issued by the Ministry of Works and Transport .
However , the Minister s statement didn’t indicate whether bus services will be introduced to reduce on the traffic jams and transport fares . Taxi operators interviewed seemed not to be concerned by the new guidelines but appealed to government to revisit its directive on the number of passengers a taxi should carry in order to spread the coronavirus.
While government has directed that taxis should carry a maxim of 7 passengers the operators argue that the only way they can make a profit is by transporting 9 people reduced from 14 .
