Planning of a public transport system for the city of Kigali, Rwanda

Abstract

Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 7-10 July 2014 "Leading Transport into the Future", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.

The City of Kigali, capital of Rwanda, is challenged by a rapid increase in congestion and air pollution on its roads, especially during peak periods. This is a direct result of high population growth and an exponential increase in private car ownership. Public transport services, consisting of bus, minibus, and motor cycle taxis (moto-taxi’s), are poor, largely informal and unco-ordinated. Roads are generally in a poor condition, many of which are gravel roads, not suitable for public transport. To solve these problems, the Government of the Republic of Rwanda through the Ministry of Infrastructure and Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) initiated a project for the planning and conceptual design of a public transport system for Kigali City. The Paper provides the highlights of the study process and key results, with the focus on features of the current and proposed public transport system. Unique characteristics of Kigali and challenges to formalise the public transport system, as well as comparisons with the South African context are described. The Project covered travel demand assessment, Stated Preference surveys, development of a hierarchical multi-modal modelling suite including macro- and micro-simulation, development and evaluation of alternative public transport options, public transport infrastructure development and operational management programs for the short, medium and long-term, as well as an institutional and legal framework.