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The rising price of fuel and
the simultaneous scarcity of foreign exchange seem to play havoc with the city
transport services and acquisition of spare parts. The increase in the price of
oil by a mere 10 cents was one of the factors which had triggered the 1974
public unrest, bringing down the Aklilu government - the beginning of the end
for the Haile Selassie regime.
That was the time when taxi
drivers had taken the law into their hands and had assumed the position of the
vanguard for the so called revolution. That was also the time when the former
establishment was ungovernable and everybody had to walk all the way from home
to work and back. Four decades have elapsed and the price of oil has risen by
over 310pc and the hurdles of city transport services seem to be as
insurmountable as ever.
Fisseha Mamo is a taxi owner
and the head of one of the 13 taxi owners Association, the oldest association
for that matter. He expressed how taxi service is no longer a lucrative business
even with the increase of rates for shuttles. It would seem, this venture cannot
break even.
He knows many taxi owners who
have either abandoned the business or swapped their territories of operation
from the confines of the capital to the peripheries or suburban towns. It would
seem that the suburbs impose less restriction on their [taxis’] mobility and
less competition.
Many owners who used to employ
drivers are nowadays either driving their own vehicles or have engaged close
friends and relatives to do the driving for them. They [taxi owners] would
rather prefer to have the vehicle stand idle than hand it over to someone they
do not know enough to trust.
Fisseha is vexed at the price
of spare parts which has increased significantly. For instance, an ordinary tire
which used to go for 500 Br is now selling at 1,035 Br per piece. The operating
cost has more than doubled, recently.
A litre of lubricating oil
that cost 20 Br is now 60 Br. Unless the taxis shuttle full loads from one point
to another, they cannot cover their costs making profits nearly impossible.
Fisseha also recognizes that the assignment of taxis by routes may help to abate
the problem of inefficient services rendered.
I went to the Addis Abeba City
Transport Department Branch Office to inquire about the much-talked about
routing plan.
My first attempt was a
complete failure as all the concerned officials were attending a meeting. The
next day, I telephoned Tibletse Asgedom, the bureau head. Preferring not to
disclose or publicize mere plans before they are translated into tangible
actions, she promised to call newsmen or reporters the moment the routing scheme
is put in to effect very shortly.
From the brief telephone
conversation I had with Tibletse, I could learn that the routing arrangement
requires meticulous programming and roster setting, incorporating more than
14,000 mini-buses into the system. I could also feel that the team led by
Tibletse was overstretched and working hard to put the plan into practice as
soon as possible.
Although the taxi service is
just one small modality of city transport, the public complaint placed against
taxis seems to be unfair to that business cabal.
Passengers are bitter about
taxi drivers and their assistants and the way they treat them. During peak
hours, taxis seem to be playing a cruel game of cat and mouse around epicenters
like Piassa; Le Gare Railway Station; Megenagna; Merkato; Lideta; Kerra and
Sarris.
A taxi appears from nowhere
and advances as if to pull over and pick up passengers. The drivers and their
assistants show supreme indifference to the explicit requests of the taxis’
destination by commuters. Some taxi drivers pause for a short while and leave
without boarding passengers. At times they cut short the distance and change
destinations. Sometimes they board passengers up to a certain distance and
change their minds leaving the passengers alone out in the cold.
Many taxi drivers are said to
quit as early as six o’clock in the evening which causes scarcity, forcing
passengers to pay the extra rates. The minimum charge for a short shuttle is 90
cents. The next tariff range is 1.80 Br under the mercy of the driver who sets
the rate as he likes. Reckless driving is often the characteristic of most taxi
drivers, much to the dismay of passengers. More often than not it is usually the
taxi drivers who often carry the brunt of the blame for much of the traffic
accidents on the roads of Addis.
The capital has expanded in
all directions making it imperative for dwellers to reside in areas distant from
the centre of the city or any other point within the city. It takes too long to
travel from place to place and delays occur at offices and other work places.
As mentioned earlier, taxis
are only a fraction of the city transport challenges. Millions of people use
other means as to get from one place to another well not to mention walking.
City buses bear much of the
bulk of the burden as well. The midi-buses or the Higer buses are proving
themselves worthwhile. Unfortunately, they are also facing a very critical
shortage of spare parts and suffer from extensive down time as they cannot be
repaired in due time.
Higher fuel prices and
scarcity of spare parts are becoming the causes to exempt people from driving
motor cars. Exemption can be a serious problem if it involves transporting
freights as prices of goods and commodities are directly related to the prices
of fuel oil, lubricants and spare parts.
At present the price of crude
oil oscillates around 80 dollars per barrel. This price is very high especially
for developing countries like Ethiopia.
The
Ethiopian government is undertaking intensive oil exploration studies according
to recent press release by the Ministry of Mining and Energy. |
