City in public transport June 8 - 14, 2004
KAMPALA- A recent study has revealed that Kampala does not have the capacity to handle the growing number traffic in the City. The study by an Israel firm Tahal consulting Engineering shows that Kampala City is congested with omnibuses, the mode of transport that the city relies on. "The existing public transport situation indicates that there is insufficient passenger- place capacity within the motorized fleet within Kampala city,'' traffic engineer of Tahal Consulting Engineering, Mr James Vance said in a document he presented to the City Council and districts authorities of Kampala at Hotel Africana last week. The study revealed that 7,000 omnibuses, 4000 boda- boda cyclists operate in Kampala metropolitan area on daily basis. This is in addition to over 400 non urban -buses which enter the city daily. Vance said that the currently, public transport in the City is characterised by insufficient control of terminal operations which hinders the easy flow of traffic. The study also reveals that the city has no route network plan to optimize the use of existing vehicle types leading to congestion. "There is no effective mechanism to influence vehicle types in use, route permit system to control quantity of operation and no urban operator licensing system to influence the quality of operations,'' says the report. The study also projects Kampala's population to hit 2.6 million in 2008, 3 million in 2013 and 3.6 million in 2018. It advised authorities to plan earlier or these demographic changes otherwise the traffic and business activities could simply ground to a halt. The study is part of the National Transport Master Plan and Kampala Metropolitan area that was launched in 2003. The chairperson technical steering committee, engineer Jonathan Mwedde told The Monitor that the National Transport master plan would enable the country to develop the best transport system that will contribute to poverty eradication through effective use of transport. It is also aimed at developing a cost effective transportation system. ----------------------------------------------------------- Spela poker mot verkliga människor över Internet. Över 40 000 spelare online http://www.multipoker.com -------------------------------------------- This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug