The government has opened up the public transport market for buses owned by individuals as a measure to deal with scarcity of vehicles and long queues in the city.

Prior to the move, only public transport companies or cooperatives were allowed to carry passengers in the city.

The new guidelines issued by the Ministry of Infrastructure on Tuesday, November 28 stated that the measures will start to be implemented from December 15 this year.

"A cooperative, company or individual who owns a bus (one or more) that meets the requirements for public transportation in the City of Kigali will be allowed to transport people after being given a RURA (Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority) license," reads part of the guidelines.

Those who will be authorised to carry passengers under the new guidelines will operate in corridors made up of various roads, with each road having at least two operators.

The buses that are allowed to carry passengers in the city should be at least 29-seaters, according to the ministry. Bigger buses that carry 70 or more passengers will be given priority on bigger roads in the city to ensure adequate passenger service.

All operators are required to have cashless payment systems in place.

The licenses issued for the operators will be valid for 5 years but can be extended after that.

The ministry asked investors to first approach RURA to make sure that they meet the requirements before purchasing the buses.

Meanwhile, as a way of dealing with scarcity of public buses in the city, the government ordered for 200 new buses from China. 100 of these are expected to reach the country before December, while the rest will arrive in January 2024.