Public Transport Contracting
Paratransit Business Model Improvement - Kampala, Uganda
Who We Are
Organisation Development and Change Management Consultancy specialising in Strategy and Complex Change Processes focused on Urban Mobility Improvements.
Our Recent Projects
ODA was appointed as a specialist sub-contractor to Transitec consortium by the Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) to develop the business model for 2nd generation public transport services in the City of Kigali.
The objectives of the project are to review the current bus operations, design a new public transport network and scheduled bus operation model, recommend traffic management improvements, prepare 2nd generation public transport contracts for Kigali and assist the Contracting Authority with the preparation and issuing of a Request for Proposals aimed at procuring service providers for rendering of 2nd generation public transport services.
In May 2017, ODA was appointed Project Manager on the City of Cape Town initiated paratransit business improvement process, aimed at professionalising paratransit operations by transforming them into Transport Operating Companies (TOC), with the view to contract them as feeder/ distributor service providers to the MyCiti Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) rollout in Cape Town.
ODA’s pilot project with the Mitchells Plain based 7th Ave Minibus Taxi Association resulted in the introduction of a scheduled service model, the reduction of the vehicle fleet from 78 to 40 minibuses, the reduction in fuel consumption by 45%, reduction in driver work hours from an average 14 hours per day to 7.5 hours per day with an hour break and one day off in a 7 day operations week cycle and no driver redundancies. Passenger satisfaction with the scheduled service averages around 75%.
From 2017 - 2018, ODA participated in the World Bank Sub-Saharan African Transport Project (SSATP) study into the improvement of Urban Mobility in 8 SSA countries focusing on the capital city as well as a leading secondary city in each of the 8 countries.
ODA was appointed Country Manager for Rwanda (Kigali & Musanze) and Kenya (Nairobi & Mombasa) in collaboration with Transitec.
The assignment entailed the undertaking of desktop and field reviews of the state of urban mobility and the preparation of a report with findings and recommendations to be deliberated at a country’s National Urban Mobility Forum.
In 2015, ODA was appointed advisor to the +300 paratransit operators (10 minibus taxi associations) whose operations were to be affected by the introduction of Phase 1B of the Johannesburg Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
ODA assumed responsibility for the establishment of the BRT Operating Company Litsamaiso, the negotiation of compensation payments to the +300 paratransit operators whose business stood to be affected by the BRT system and the negotiation of a 12 year BRT Operator contract for the newly established paratransit – based Operating Company
In 2013, ODA was appointed Industry Transition Advisor to the Polokwane Municipality as part of the design, planning, negotiation and implementation of the municipality’s Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) System.
ODA was responsible for the establishment of project management and industry engagement architecture, the design and implementation of market surveys, establishment of bus operating companies, structuring minibus taxi industry capacity building programs, negotiating compensation offers and minibus taxi withdrawal from IRT routes and negotiating hybrid system solutions.
From 2014 to 2015, ODA was appointed with Swiss and French partners Transitec, Codatu and Urbaplan to undertake a review of the state of access and mobility in 20 Sub-Saharan African cities with the view to prepare a policy paper for the next 3 year cycle of this World Bank Sub-Saharan African Transport Project (SSATP).
ODA, as member of the study board, assumed responsibility for field reviews in Cape Town (South Africa), the Johannesburg / Gauteng City Region (South Africa), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), Nairobi (Kenya) and Accra (Ghana).
About Us
Organisation Development Africa (ODA) is a privately-owned strategy and change management consultancy specialising in complex, large-scale institutional change processes focussing on the public transport and paratransit sectors.
ODA has extensive experience in the private and public sectors and in working at the public – private interface. The company grew out of a number of business initiatives spanning more than two decades, and combines the skills, networks and knowledge capital of some of Africa’s leading practitioners in the fields of business strategy, organisation development, human resource management and paratransit reform.
Recent Blog Posts
Written by Naidine Daniels The paratransit (minibus taxi) sector provides up to 65% of commuters in the main South African cities with reliable and affordable public transport. The sector forms the backbone of the informal economy in urban settings and provides job opportunities to many who have difficulty accessing the formal job market. Most governments […]
The Coronavirus, COVID-19, is increasingly having an impact on the way people conduct their daily lives. Public transport is just one of the areas that is being severely impacted through travel bans, the avoidance of public gatherings and self isolation measures. In most regions the use of public transport is not prohibited so the best […]
Background Public Transport Operators (including paratransit operators in the cities of the global south) have been severely impacted by COVID – 19 related lockdown measures that saw economic activity (and therefore travel demand) been reduced to variations on the definition of ‘’essential service workers’’. Anecdotal evidence put forward by formal bus and paratransit / minibus […]
Striking the balance between saving lives and securing livelihoods has been at the centre of the governments’ response to the COVID–19 Pandemic. As part of the focus on saving lives, (and preventing health system overrun), strict measures pertaining to travel on public transport modes have been imposed and will probably prevail for some time to […]
Know your teams and members The writing appears to be on the wall. “Working from home”, especially for professional staff and office workers will become part of the new normal that follows on post Covid-19 lockdown measures worldwide. While organisations might have used the pre-lockdown and lockdown period to make sure they have the required […]
In the past week or two news broke that Johannesburg minibus owners are planning to increase fares on local (commuter) routes by up to 25%. Some reactions from within government were that this is inconsiderate given the hardship that public transport users are already dealing with during COVID–19 Lockdown. Industry leaders on the other hand […]
By Nico McLachlan and David Schmidt In a recent blog post we made the case for a systemic approach to restructuring the minibus taxi industry. At the height of South Africa’s hard lockdown, we also looked at three post– lockdown travel demand recovery scenarios and predicted that the recovery of passenger demand would not be […]
It is not easy to make the case for investment in the South African minibus taxi industry, especially if your dinner guests are mostly private car users who have some time or another been at the receiving end of the antics of a minibus taxi driver on the N2 outgoing in peak hour traffic. The […]
During the week of 7 – 11 December 2020 Cape Town based Public Transport specialists Organisation Development Africa (ODA) and their Swiss partners Transitec hosted a delegation of government officials from the Ugandan Ministry of Works and Transport, the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the six main minibus taxi associations in Kampala. The study […]
ODA appointed to work on Ghana Urban Mobility Project by Swiss firm Transitec.
The New Times in Rwanda on 11 February 2021 leads with the good news that the Rwandan government has allocated a subsidy of 29.3 bn Rwandan Franc (RWF) in the 2021 financial year as a relief payment to hard pressed public transport operators. Under the now extended COVID–19 regulations, Rwandan public transport operators are required […]
By Nico Mc Lachlan The biggest challenge faced by the paratransit sector in the cities of the global south is the self- reinforcing view of the public and those in positions of authority of a sector built on lawlessness, exploitation, overtrading, criminality and a propensity to resort to violence as a means of dealing with […]
By Nico Mc Lachlan Over the past decade there have been significant positive changes that will allow the paratransit sector to play a more constructive role in shaping the future of urban mobility in Sub-Saharan African cities. A brief reflection on four cases that may point us to the way forward In South Africa much […]
In July 2022 ODA as a corporate member of CODTAU co-facilitated the Abidjan Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMUGA) study tour to Cape Town.
Transitec, ODA, and 7th Avenue Taxi Association received the Best Practical Paper award at SATC 2019 for their work on the transition of minibus taxi operations to scheduled services in Mitchells Plain, under the auspices of the City of Cape Town. In 2017, a number of minibus taxi associations were selected by the City of […]
South African companies Organisation Development Africa (ODA), Transport Economic & Support Services (TESS) and GoMetro played a central role in the design of 2nd generation public transport contracts for the city of Kigali Rwanda. The SA companies are part of a consortium led by Swiss -based Transport Engineering firm Transitec. The Rwandan Utilities Regulatory Authority […]
An experiential account of urban mobility Three months into my internship at Cape Town based urban mobility consultancy ODA I was offered the opportunity to join the team responsible for preparation of a new project in Kampala, Uganda aimed at improving urban mobility in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA). Although the three months I […]
Executive Summary The value of common language “Narrowing language increases efficiency” “Expanding language increases opportunity” “To regenerate, an organisation creates a new language” “Past language limits future vision” “Organisations need different languages to discuss its present and future business” Source:DUBBERLY et al, 2002. City of Kigali (Rwanda): Designing & Introducing 2nd Generation Public Transport Contracts […]
During an initial Consultative Forum facilitated by ODA in January 2020, representatives from the minibus taxi industry and local government met to discuss the current state and future vision of the urban mobility system in the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area. Upon conclusion of the forum the taxi operators confirmed their readiness to engage on the […]
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