BCC set to introduce colour coding for minibus routes      

By Chilungamo Missi

Blantyre, Mana: Blantyre City Council (BCC) has said it was planning to introduce color coding for minibuses based on their routes in a bid to reduce congestion in public passenger road transport system.

In an interview on the sidelines of City Summit Press briefing on Monday, Blantyre City Council Director of Town Planning and Estates Services, Costly Chanza said there are many challenges arising with the current passenger transport management system.

“Currently, there are multifaceted challenges that the council, as a local authority, the public as passengers and numerous other stakeholders, are facing regarding public transport management system in our city.

“Minibuses stopping anywhere to pick and drop passengers is a common scenario in both Limbe and Blantyre thereby inconveniencing so many people, this for sure is avoidable and must be avoided at all cost,” he said.

Chanza said that BCC would soon ensure that minibuses are colour coded in respect to their routes so that every minibus should be operating in the area which it registered and this would eliminate congestion in the city.

Secretary General for Minibus Owners Association of Malawi (MOAM), Coxley Kamange hailed the idea saying it would ease challenges which passengers face in the public transport.

He said, “This will solve many problems such as congestion and where something went wrong; it will be easy for us to trace the minibus where it is operating.

Kamange added that BCC and MOAM together with other concerned stakeholders would hold a round table meeting to see how best the idea can be implemented.