While announcing this development, Pioneer Easy Bus Director, David Baingana said, the company which has been providing bus transport services to commuters on three routes along the eastern axis of the GKMA on a pilot basis since September 2007, is set to 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 GKMA. A total of 522 buses will be required to optimally serve this entire area.
"We are very 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 122 buses." said Baingana. The buses will offer integrated, reliable, affordable and scheduled transport services to all city commuters in the Eastern and Western Zones which include areas such as Mukono, Luzira, Bweyogerere, Ntinda, Naalya and Kasubi, Bulenga, Kyengera and Ndeeba among others".
He continued "The buses are manufactured in China by Yutong, the largest bus manufacturer in the world and will have a total carriage capacity of 60 commuters; 30 seated and 30 standing commuters. Commuters will be charged on the basis of 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 50% of the fare charged by our counterparts in the local transport industry and this will not change.
A new Statutory Instrument containing traffic and road safety regulations took effect in February 2011 and will regulate the urban public transport in a more regimented way than before. These include the designation of bus routes, fixed bus stops, special bus lanes within the Central Business District, scheduled timetables and an organized ticketing system. "The new bus service is aimed at providing Ugandans with modern public transport services that will help to decongest the city using vehicle optimization while offering the best services to city dwellers. Buses will operate 20 hour 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."
The project is expected to create an estimated 5,000 jobs, directly and create another 8,000- 10,000 jobs indirectly. The majority of these jobs will be filled by applicant who will be sourced through a local transport co-operative with whom Pioneer has teamed up. The co-operative will also provide a platform through which its members will be able to invest in the Pioneer project.
Pioneer Easy Bus (PEB) Limited is a locally registered limited liability company incorporated in 2005 and formed with the intention of providing integrated, affordable and reliable urban public transportation services for the benefit of the growing commuters in and around the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA). The company has been offering bus transport to the public since September 2007 and currently runs 15 buses on a pilot basis for almost 40 months now.
PEB has been mainly operating in the eastern corridor of the GKMA. Following a three stage tender process conducted over a period of about 20 months in conformity with PPDA guidelines and involving government stakeholders in Ministry of Works & Transport, Ministry of Finance Planning & Economic Development, the Ministry of Local Government and Kampala City Council, Pioneer was awarded an exclusive 5 year concession to operate bus services in the Eastern & Western Zones of the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area. These two zones encompass a total of 9 routes within the GKMA.
