Budgeting for Moving by Boda
This is based off writing from Tom’s Master’s thesis on transportation in Fort Portal and Mbale, Uganda, available here in full.
Grabbing a boda in much of Uganda requires either knowing the landscape or how to negotiate, or both. Drivers’ earnings and their families’ survival depend on decent prices, and yet passengers regularly spend 30–50% of their income on transportation and need to push down trip prices to spend on food and other necessities.
So what defines the price of a trip anyway?
Distance. First, unsurprisingly, is distance, or petrol in the drivers mind. Trips in regional cities are much more standardized than within large cities, and trips of 1–2 km distances cost a standardized 1,000 UGX ($0.28), while trips further afield can be around 2,000 UGX. In Kampala, however, negotiations are needed for nearly every trip. Additionally, it is not only distance; there are many other factors that can make the same trip a different price.
Supply of drivers. The perceived oversupply of boda boda drivers can depress trip prices. Oversupply is known to reduce prices by creating stiff competition amongst transportation operators, allowing passengers to abandon negotiations with a driver deemed to be offering too steep a price and find another in a quick period. This was also recognized by a special hire taxi driver, who claimed that the number of operators had doubled in the last 4 years, and that it was hurting his earnings as a result. A boda boda driver in Fort Portal reflected on this issue:
“Motorcycles have become many in town…for our work it has become a challenge,” said Ali, a boda driver in Fort Portal. “There are many motorcycles and the customers are little. Everyone has to struggle, and you have to press deduction. …and fuel by the way has increased…also you can’t leave someone who is going to town for one thousand and someone is going for free…it is a challenge. Every day there are new members.”
Relationship and negotiation. The relationship between the driver and the passenger was also cited as a fundamental definer of pricing by multiple respondents. When someone is perceived to be a newcomer to the area, which can be linked to being upper income, drivers can raise their prices. When the passenger becomes known to the driver, however, and can be a repeat customer, the driver can be more open to lowering their prices.
Time of day. The travel diary survey found that cost per duration varied significantly across the time of day. Drivers, passengers, and stakeholders revealed that this was largely due to three factors: the direction in which drivers are moving, the level of passenger demand, and the Covid-lockdown curfew.
The time of day also tends to overlap heavily with passenger/driver shared destinations. Both passengers and drivers tend to live outside of downtown and commute into town in the early morning hours and make the reverse trip in the evening. This means for drivers, the majority of whom are believed to be based at stages in the downtown and would be driving there regardless, any passenger is better than none. Charges in the middle of the day can then rise because it is not a part of the regular flow. A driver in downtown travelling to the peri-urban residential neighborhoods can charge higher costs in the middle of the day because they consider it less likely to be able to pick someone up coming back into the city.
“When I reach town then you say you take me back, I may need something beyond that [price], because I’m counting the going and come back, I’m taking [you] and I have to come back,” explained Abdullah, a boda driver in Mbale. “But in the morning I can take [you] at 1,000 UGX because I’m going to work also. Then in the evening [when] I’m going back to sleep, I have to take you in the money you have, even if you say ‘my brother, now, I am broke, I don’t have money’… I may still take you, free of charge, because I’m going where you’re going.”
High passenger demand, another key feature of commute time trips, can push both ways. Primarily, the perceived desperation of some passengers at these times, particularly those working in formal employment with starting times, can make drivers more likely to press for a higher price. It’s also possible, however, that the easy availability of passengers at commute times can make drivers more open to lower prices, as good supply of passengers is perceived.
The curfew, which was 7 PM to 5:30 AM for most forms of transport but 6 PM to 5:30 AM for boda boda drivers, can be harshly enforced. While the main punishment for boda boda drivers operating after 6 PM was seen to be being forced to pay “fines” or bribes to policemen for 20,000–50,000 UGX, there have also been multiple cases of police officers shooting and killing drivers and passengers moving past curfew hours. Driving after 6 PM is thus seen as risky, though many drivers continue to operate until 7.
The danger thus associated with carrying passengers after 6 or 7 is therefore cause for increasing the price. However, this may be negated by the fact that most trips around these times are drivers last trips, and that drivers are often also moving towards home, away from the city, thus depressing their asked price. Drivers and others indicated that nighttime travel could be more expensive prior to Covid as well, so though the threat of violence and extortion may dissipate for drivers when the curfew is released, nighttime costs should not be expected to decrease significantly — though ability to move to one’s destination at such hours may otherwise improve.
Lubyanza/stage (and direction). Another key factor in transportation pricing is whether the boda boda was found while driving — known as lubyanza — or they were found at a stage. Stage drivers are perceived to be significantly more expensive than drivers found on the road. This is because if a boda operator is based at the stage, they must calculate the fuel used for the return trip. A driver on the road, however, may be coming from just dropping someone, and therefore have less solo driving time to include in the passengers pricing.
All lubyanza trips, however, are not the same. Another key factor in defining the price of a lubyanza trip is the direction of the boda at the time of pickup. If a boda was already driving somewhere — say, back to their stage, or back home — and the passengers direction is in that general direction, the driver is likely to accept a lower price as the trip was going to be made anyway. This is closely linked with the issue of time of day.
Weather. Weather, especially rain, was also cited as a factor contributing to price increases. Both the rain and the muddy roads create difficult working conditions for drivers. Drivers try to avoid working in heavy rain, but when passengers insist, drivers can charge extra for the difficult conditions.
How can you move for cheap?
There are no shortage of factors affecting boda pricing. The best way for passengers to try to control the fare when they cannot control the distance is to use drivers they know well; and if not, then pick drivers already going in the direction they want to go. Otherwise, drivers are in a stronger position, especially when there are fewer bodas on the street, and passengers will have to get by on negotiation and wit.
