The Solution to Rwanda's Capital City's Public Transport Issues

The best way that Kigali can deal with its public transport challenges is by implementing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), according to Chris Kost, a public transport expert working with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), a global organisation that has worked with over 100 cities to design and implement transport and urban development systems.

The BRT is a high-capacity public transport service that generally runs on dedicated lanes and corridors to avoid delays that typically slow regular bus services.

Although the characteristics of each system may vary, most BRT buses operate on dedicated lanes, allowing them to zoom past traffic and offer fast and predictable journey times. Buses only stop at designated stations where passengers typically prepay the fare before boarding, which helps streamline and speed up operations.

Services run frequently and are operated by large vehicles--often articulated or even bi-articulated buses, meaning they can carry large amounts of people quickly and efficiently.

Building a BRT is much cheaper than many advanced public transport technologies such as metro or light rail, and partly due to this, the system is enjoying growing popularity in Africa, where six systems are already operational and another 10 are under development, reports Hudson Kuteesa for The New Times.