{"id":46239,"date":"2023-03-14T11:45:41","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T11:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads"},"modified":"2023-03-14T12:33:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-14T12:33:54","slug":"coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>More than 350 buses have left the public transport business after their companies suffered financial difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic, this publication has learnt.<\/p>\n

A government source said the number of passenger buses has dropped to 869 from about 1,200 before the pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n

The source attributed the drop to financial problems that the bus companies suffered after the economy was locked down twice over Covid-19.<\/p>\n

Gaaga bus is one of the big bus companies that closed last year.<\/p>\n

The chairperson of United Bus Drivers Association, Mr Yunus Kiggundu, confirmed the drop in the number of passenger buses operating in the country, attributing it to high operational costs and shortage of passengers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe situation is tough on the road for buses. Many bus companies were unable to start business after months of the lockdown,\u201d Mr Kiggundu said yesterday.<\/p>\n

He said even the bus companies that managed to resume operations after the lockdown were faced with a shortage of passengers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of passengers dropped significantly and many buses were driven nearly empty. This greatly affected bus companies with fewer units in their fleets,\u201d Mr Kiggundu said.<\/p>\n

He also said the increase in fuel prices affected the running of the buses.<\/p>\n

Mr Solomon Nsiimire, the chairperson of Uganda Bus Owners Association, was unwilling to talk to this publication when contacted.<\/p>\n

However, a manager at Namayiba Bus Park said some of the bus companies that collapsed were owned by Members of Parliament who lost in the 2021 elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Members of Parliament from upcountry constituencies often establish bus companies that operate between Kampala and districts where their constituencies are located. They often sell the companies when they lose elections,\u201d the manager, who declined to be named, said.<\/p>\n

In the long run, the drop in the number of buses on the roads often leads to an increase in the transport fares.<\/p>\n

The Directorate of Traffic and Road Safety also said the drop in the number of the buses on the roads has led to an increase of accidents and fatalities on the highways.<\/p>\n

During the launch of the police report of 2022 recently, the acting director of Traffic and Road Safety, Mr Lawrence Nuwabiine, said the gap created by shortage of buses has been filled by newer models of Toyota Hiace (Drones), which carry fewer passengers, but speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of buses was tremendously reduced after Covid and it left a gap in transport that was filled by the drones. …what does this one mean to road safety, the drones are fast speeding vehicles. These are monsters on the roads,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a result, many people have been injured. Actually, 800 people have been injured,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Buses are the safest vehicles on Ugandan roads. Bus operators said the drop in the number of buses has also affected the business in many roadside towns where they make stops to crosscheck their route charts.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. More than 350 buses have left the public transport business after their companies suffered financial difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic, this publication has learnt. A government source said the number of passenger buses has dropped to 869 from about 1,200 before the pandemic in 2020. The source attributed the drop to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":46237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-46239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nCoronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"More than 350 buses have left the public transport business after their companies suffered financial difficulties due to ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More than 350 buses have left the public transport business after their companies suffered financial difficulties due to ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-14T11:45:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-14T12:33:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-14T11:45:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-14T12:33:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads\"},\"wordCount\":493,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads\",\"name\":\"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads - Uganda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-14T11:45:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-14T12:33:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"More than 350 buses have left the public transport business after their companies suffered financial difficulties due to ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":480,\"caption\":\"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\",\"name\":\"Uganda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads - Uganda","description":"More than 350 buses have left the public transport business after their companies suffered financial difficulties due to ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads","og_description":"More than 350 buses have left the public transport business after their companies suffered financial difficulties due to ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads","og_site_name":"Uganda","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-03-14T11:45:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-14T12:33:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads","datePublished":"2023-03-14T11:45:41+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-14T12:33:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads"},"wordCount":493,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Uganda","uganda"],"articleSection":["all news","community"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads","name":"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads - Uganda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg","datePublished":"2023-03-14T11:45:41+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-14T12:33:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"More than 350 buses have left the public transport business after their companies suffered financial difficulties due to ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2023\/03\/postQueueImg_1678781750.63.jpg","width":720,"height":480,"caption":"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/coronavirus-forces-350-buses-off-roads#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Coronavirus forces\u00a0 350 buses off roads"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/","name":"Uganda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}