Enhancing the mobility services by the implementation of real-time passenger information system in the capital city of Kigali, Rwanda

Abstract

One of the most essential measures of urban modernity and civilisation is the availability of developed efficient, safe, accessible, and environmentally sustainable public transport. This thesis studies the impacts of implementing a Real-Time information system (RTPIS) in the public transport of Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. Four modes of transport are investigated, three are currently in operation i.e., bus, car, motorbike and one additional hypothetical mode i.e., a bus equipped with RTPIS referred to as iBus. The assessment showed that the key attributes influencing commuters transport mode choice in Kigali are waiting time, in-vehicle travel time, Cost, and crowding, from that a stated preference survey was developed to collect data of travel behaviour. Logit model theory was used to analyse the responses and Python Biogeme to estimate the attributes’ coefficients. The results show that the commuters in Kigali value in-vehicle travel over waiting time and crowding. This suggests that the RTPIS should be implemented altogether with in-vehicle travel time improving systems such as bus dedicated lane. The value of waiting time and in-vehicle travel time are 0.089 USD/h and 0.043 USD/h respectively. The implementation of a real-time information system will potentially attract more commuters from 10.1 per cent to 36.2 percent of the total commuters in Kigali, this can make public transport the first traveller’s attractive mode in Kigali currently being the last. Sustainable public transport in Kigali has to include the RTPI system because of its benefits such as congestion reduction, car ownership decrease, traffic emissions reduction and citizen satisfaction in public transport services.