|
Reclining in one of the recently imported Chinese “midibuses”,
Berhanu Tade was enjoying his maiden journey last
Wednesday, travelling from CMC to Legahar. He
recalls the headaches encountered when he needed to
fight for space on the ageing red and yellow Anbessa
City Buses Enterprise fleet with swarms of commuters
muscling for the cheapest fare the capital offers.
“I could not find better public transportation,”
rejoices the 29-year-old fastening his seatbelt, an
almost unheard of phenomenon in Addis Abeba. “If
this comfortable option remains, I will be quite
pleased.”
Berhanu is a salesman in a spare automobile part
shop around Sengatera, Kirkos Distrct. He carefully
budgets his 610 Br monthly salary, allotting it in
full for transport, housing and food expenditures
for him as well as his wife.
Of all the strife that represents daily existence
for urbanites with fixed earnings in an era of
inflation, Berhanu especially dreads the early
mornings, arising at 6:00AM to catch the first bus
to report to duty ahead of the 8:00AM clock-in time
set by his supervisor.
Berhanu and other low and middle income earners of
his neighbourhood are forced to push and shove for
standing room on the number 61 bus that transports
them each dawn to their place of work. Crammed in
the same bus every afternoon, he returns home
grumbling of the lack of adequate and reasonably
comfortable transportation in the city.
To his surprise, Anbessa Buses announced a hike in
bus fares following the oil price increase that came
into effect on January 26, 2008. The number 61 bus
no more charges 75 cents. The fare has now jumped to
one Birr, which, combined with the hefty inflation
in other consumables, has constrained Berhanu’s
budget.
Though the new buses do not alleviate his struggle
with stretching his income, he is at least relieved
with the increased level of comfort on the new
Chinese buses.
Anbessa Buses, on behalf of the Federal Transport
Authority, signed a deal nine months ago with the
Chinese vehicle manufacturer, HIGER Bus Company Ltd,
to acquire 500 medium size buses at a cost of 13.2
dollars. Established in 1998, HIGER claims to have
an annual manufacturing capacity of 18,000 complete
buses and chasses.
The imports coming through the Port of Djibouti are
the first part of the Ministry of Transport and
Communications’ (MoTC) decision last year to procure
2,000 of the 27-person capacity buses in a bid to
alleviate the needs of commuters that were
increasingly become too much for the existing fleet
to handle.
According to a Addis Abeba Transport Bureau study,
3.4 million people travel everyday within the
capital. The more than 500 old city buses serve
10.9pc of the commuters, while the 13,000 minibus
taxis that grow by 11pc every year address the
transportation needs of a fifth of the travellers.
The balances are pedestrians.
The daunting task seemed to call for a large-scale
solution. However, troubled by the immediate cash
need if the large number were acquired in one
instalment, MoTC downsized its demand to the 1,000
buses to be bought on credit on a five-year payment
plan.
The city itself, too, is stepping in to ease the
burden of urbanites. One of the measures the Addis
Abeba City Caretaker Administration is planning to
take to tackle the transportation problem, according
to the five-year strategic plan that spans from
2006/07 to 2010/11, is to increase road networks in
the city, so that 50pc of delays due to congestion
gets reduced.
Road coverage in the city currently stands at 8.3pc,
close to three-fold lower than the internationally
accepted standard of 25pc. There are 990Kms of
asphalted road in the city, which the Addis Abeba
City Roads Authority envisages to upgrade to
1,300Kms by 2009/10.
Citizens are keen to see this happen as getting
around the city of around million is increasingly a
painful exercise. Vehicle owners, including
businessmen who bought the midibuses, as well as
their drivers, are complaining about the amount of
time they spend driving at snail’s pace in the
middle of tedious jams.
Kindalem Ashagre is a driver of one of the midibuses
from CMC to Legehar. However, he is not content with
the number of daily journeys he can make.
“I can only complete five loops a day,” says
Kindalem, who is hired by Zerihun Muluneh, the owner
of the midibus.
For a single trip from CMC to Legehar, these buses
charge 1.50 Br, which the driver thinks is unfair
considering the comfort these buses provide.
According to Kindalem, the midibus on average
transports 400 to 500 commuters a day while
consuming close to 300 Br of oil a day in addition
to a 50 Br allowance a driver gets. After paying a
500 Br monthly salary to the drivers, the owners are
expected to repay 5,000 Br to a bank according to
their agreement.
After officials of the Transport Authority reached
an agreement with representatives of HIGER on June
24, 2007, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE)
granted a letter of credit (LC) for the 332,000 Br
midibuses. For businessmen procuring the buses an
arrangement has been made whereby they pay 30pc of
the total upfront, the balance being obtained from
CBE to be paid in five years.
According to Kassahun Hailemariam, general manager
of the Transport Authority, of the 100 buses brought
into the country in February in the first phase of
imports, close to 65 have been sold to private
businessmen. Another 100 buses are also reported to
have reached the Port of Djibouti, and 200 are
expected to reach the Port on Wednesday, according
to the state daily, The Ethiopian Herald.
Residents like Berhanu are commending the impact the
current handful of buses have brought in easing the
pressure, and are hopeful that the arriving ones
would significantly help in mitigating the shortage
of transportation.
According to a transport expert, the challenges that
are compounded with the shortage now are the
increase in road construction and the obsolescence
of traffic lights in the city.
The City Roads Authority is currently constructing
22 roads most of which are used to accommodate large
numbers of vehicles.
Daniel Tadesse (sergeant), public relations head of
the Addis Abeba Traffic Police Commission, told
Fortune that the problem would remarkably be
improved with the finalisation of the road
constructions.
For now, Kasahun believes that the buses would help
commuters in many ways.
“One of residents’ complaints was that taxis offload
their passengers wherever they like,” Kasahun told
Fortune. “The midibuses, however, travel long
distances to the relief of travellers.”
Despite the congestion and other infrastructure
related problems, Berhanu is relishing his daily
ride with these buses.
“The comfort at least lets me relax for a moment and
forget my daily troubles,” Berhanu told Fortune.
|
