Feasibility study for Old taxi park to start next month

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The feasibility study to redevelop the Old taxi park will start next month.

Last year KCCA received 4 billion shillings from the Netherlands Government to conduct the study.

Peter Kaujju, the KCCA Spokesperson says that the feasibility study could not start last year because the authority was still looking for contractors to conduct the study.

He says that KCCA has identified two companies and is yet to conclude the procurement process. Kaujju however, declined to name the companies saying he could not divulge details at a time when the procurement process is on.

A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a proposed plan or method. KCCA plans to have a storied taxi park with a parking lot and commercial area.

KCCA plans to meet private real estate owners during the feasibility and design phases to ensure their views and plans are incorporated in the final plan.

Kaujju adds that the study will help inform the relationship the redevelopment should and could have with the surrounding environment of the park.

According to Kaujju, the redevelopment plan of the park involves restructuring the transport system and commercial activities in and around the park.

Over 200,000 people commute daily through the Old Taxi Park to connect to different destinations within the greater Kampala metropolitan area and beyond.

However, the old taxi park is chaotic, with noise from taxi touts, and vendors and hawkers all over the park.

It has passengers wandering from one taxi stage to another looking for taxis to their destinations. There are neither shelters nor seats for passengers, limited signs, and poor lighting.

The remodelling of the taxi park is one of KCCA’s interventions aimed at improving the operations and passenger experience at bus and taxi parks.

According to KCCA, the renovated Taxi Park will increase the economic potential of more than 25,000 people who work in this area and will benefit passengers, taxi drivers, conductors, food vendors and small business owners.

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