Looking at the current state of public transport in Kigali, you can see that significant changes have been made that are leading more people to use buses for their trips than before.
Transport problems in the City of Kigali used to be a major headache, with some people wondering what could be done to solve them, but now the issue has been put on the right track.
These are not changes that happened by chance, but rather the result of efforts put into this sector to improve it and ensure the service provided is free of flaws.
It was at the end of 2025 that the Ministry of Infrastructure announced that a pilot would be conducted in the City of Kigali to improve public transportation.
Before the reform of public transport services in the City of Kigali, a bus could spend two or three hours at the station waiting to fill up with passengers, which led some people to choose motorcycle taxis instead, since they were faster than traveling by bus.
This was also compounded by the long time buses spent stuck in traffic congestion, meaning that traveling to or from work by bus could take nearly three hours to reach your destination.
This was a major concern for bus commuters and for the country as a whole, since it held back the country’s economic development.
It stands to reason that if someone could spend three hours on a bus in the morning and another three in the evening, they would be losing between four and six hours a day simply due to commuting.
This is a loss both for a self-employed person and for an employer if the person is employed, since out of the 24 hours in a day, six were dedicated solely to commuting, and they would also need an additional hour to rest during the day.
This meant that out of the 12 hours that make up a working day, during which some employees are supposed to work eight or twelve hours, if you calculated it properly, they were actually spending no more than five hours at work.
This has an impact on the country’s economy, because gross output declines significantly when people work fewer hours.
So beyond affecting business owners, this also impacts the country’s economy, since it fails to grow as it should.
This disorganized system meant that no one was held accountable for the poor service provided, since transport companies benefited simply by carrying as many passengers as possible.
This led the Government to decide to change the public transport system in the City of Kigali, aimed at making buses faster and reducing delays at stations, bus stops, and on the road.
The Establishment of Ecofleet Solutions
One of the solutions devised was to establish a government transport agency, unlike before when the sector was in the hands of private operators who were focused only on profit.
This agency oversees all contracts of service providers transporting people and goods. Looking at it closely, the Government now acts as an intermediary, entering into agreements with private operators who provide passenger transport services.
The agreements the Government has with private operators are performance-based, meaning that whether it is the service providers or those who supply drivers, the contracts they are given are tied to performance targets.
Among the performance targets they were given: buses must be in good condition, must not spend more than 10 minutes stationary at the station, must not spend more than three minutes at a bus stop, drivers must not be rude to passengers, must be presentable, must not overload the bus, must not allow passengers to be shortchanged, among others.
What the Government essentially did was lease the buses already being used to transport people from various companies, so that instead of those companies charging customers directly, the Government now handles the payments to the companies based on the agreed terms.
Among the terms agreed upon is that anyone providing poor service is penalized. These include delays in departing from the station or a bus stop, loading cargo together with passengers, poor cleanliness, and other signs of substandard service.
The establishment of Ecofleet Solutions brought passenger transport under Government management, which is not seeking profit in monetary terms but rather seeks benefits in accelerating the country’s economic development.
This is what allowed a bus that used to spend two hours at the station to now depart after no more than 10 minutes, even if it is carrying a very small number of passengers.
The Chief Executive Officer of Ecofleet Solutions, Aubin Rukera, recently announced that following these changes, the proportion of people traveling in the City of Kigali using buses has risen to 20%, up from 10%, and that they aim to reach at least 50% within 10 years.
The Government has already purchased 190 new buses, bringing the total number of buses operating in Kigali to nearly 340.
The goal is for residents to get a bus on time, wait only briefly at bus stops, and use clean, well-managed buses.
Bus-Only Lanes
Another major step taken was the creation of road lanes reserved exclusively for buses. If you travel on Kigali’s roads, you will see lanes marked “Bus Only,” meaning only buses are allowed to use them.
This system began being used on April 24, 2026, aimed at giving priority routes to vehicles carrying large numbers of passengers in public transport.
Public transport vehicles use the dedicated road lane during morning hours from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM, and again in the evening from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
This helped reduce the amount of time people spent on buses. Now that a bus spends no more than 10 minutes at the station and has its own dedicated lane, it moves faster, to the point where a trip that used to take a full hour now takes no more than 20 minutes.
This led people to increasingly choose buses over motorcycle taxis, since buses are now faster, as Mukashyaka Emerthe explained.
She said: “I didn’t used to like waiting for the bus, but since these changes came, I started using it. Before, a person would come to the station and end up spending two hours waiting for the bus, which would push them to take a motorcycle taxi instead. Now that has changed, people now wait for the bus and are not delayed.”
One person told IGIHE that the money they used to spend on motorcycle taxis has now dropped to just a quarter of that amount for bus fares, with the rest being saved.
Paying Only for the Distance Traveled
Another thing many have appreciated about using buses is that a passenger now only pays for the portion of the trip they actually travel, if they get off before the final destination.
Previously, a passenger who boarded a bus departing from Downtown station heading to Kimironko would pay the full fare for that route, even if they were getting off earlier, around Kacyiru.
Some chose to take motorcycle taxis instead, since the cost ended up being similar to what they would pay for the bus without even completing the full route. This has now changed, as passengers can pay based on where they actually get off.
For example, someone traveling from Downtown to Ruyenzi by bus now pays only 400 Frw, while someone heading to Gatsata pays 350 Frw, and someone heading to Kacyiru pays a similar amount. This has led some people to choose buses after seeing that the system has been put in order and that the cost is lower compared to motorcycle taxis.
Among other steps taken, starting at the end of 2025, the City of Kigali began adding larger buses on various routes aimed at carrying more passengers, and new routes were also introduced.
Routes such as Downtown-Bishenyi and Downtown-Gihara, among others, were introduced to help residents of those areas more easily access buses.
This was accompanied by adding more buses on the roads, including electric buses, as a way to continue improving public transport in Kigali.
The goal is for people to change the perception that buses are only for those who “have no other option,” and instead see them as a choice everyone should consider when planning a trip.
After the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, causing fuel prices to spike, people were once again encouraged to use buses as a way to conserve the country’s fuel reserves.
Some Things Still Need Improvement
Among the things passengers say still need improvement is how people are picked up at bus stops, since on some routes, buses depart already full, ignoring people waiting at stops, who then end up spending a long time without getting a bus.
These problems are compounded by what passengers experience at stations like Downtown, where passengers heading to a particular destination spend hours waiting for a bus, while on another route there is a line of buses with no passengers.
The problem of buses being delayed on routes such as Downtown-Gihara, especially during evening hours, causes passengers to push their way to the front, to the point where some say standing in an orderly line doesn’t help them at all.
A passenger heading home to Gihara said: “Going to Gihara after 6:00 PM is an ordeal. Many times I’ve spent two hours waiting to get a seat on a bus. Because the line is so long, some passengers lose all sense of shame and push their way to the front. Those who are supposed to help us just tolerate it, saying we’ve already failed to manage anyway.”
Passengers traveling on various routes are calling for the accelerated rollout of technology to help bus users know where a bus is and when it will arrive at their stop, so they can know how many minutes they need to wait.
Ecofleet is preparing a modern technological system that will help track the location and real-time operation of buses, and provide passengers with information on when buses will arrive at each stop.
Once this system is fully implemented, residents will be able to see bus schedules and arrival times at stops using phone apps and other digital platforms, helping them plan their trips well and trust the service.
This also goes hand in hand with the need to invest in developing different parts of the City, since currently people tend to head toward the same few destinations all the time.
It should also go hand in hand with expanding road infrastructure or building new roads, so that traffic flow continues without obstruction.
The CEO of Ecofleet, Rukesha, explained that once all necessary improvements are completed, they expect the number of daily bus users to increase significantly, reaching 50% of all trips made within the next 10 years.