Third Quarterly Survey: How to Make Money on a Boda
In early January, Kalungi and Geofrey spent a week observing boda riders for the third Quarterly Boda Survey. This time, however, with funding from Safe Way Right Way, we expanded our assessment to observe helmet types, passenger helmet usage, and to add a face to face survey with boda riders across the survey on finances and ownership. We found that rider helmet usage was up, half face helmets are popular, and what you earn depends heavily on whether you own your bike.
Survey Reach
In total, 28 locations were surveyed across the five divisions of KCCA and three suburb subcounties of Nansana, Kira, and Makindye-Ssabagabo. Over the course of the week, Lubyanza surveyors observed 6,266 boda bodas and surveyed 281 on topics primarily around ownership, helmet usage, and work expenses.
Helmet usage
There was a slight rise in helmet usage, from 70% to 75%. As found in previous surveys, there remains a huge difference in helmet wearing from Central Division, at 88%, to the suburbs, where only 60% were observed wearing helmets. Similarly, there is a significant increase in helmet usage near police posts and traffic police — 90% of riders observed near police posts or traffic police were wearing helmets, compared to only 71% in areas with no police presence.
However, in general police were much more commonly found in central areas, suggesting police presence or assumption of police presence is driving higher compliance with helmet laws. Interestingly, riders towards the center of the city were twice as likely to be wearing full face or modular helmets, which offer better protection for riders. Overall, however, half face helmets remain the preferred helmets by over 60% of riders. Unfortunately, passenger helmet usage is distressingly low, at less than 1%.
Ownership
As seen in previous studies, the industry has moved away from rental systems towards lease-to-own agreements. In these agreements, usually with formalized companies such as Tugende, Watu, or Mogo, a rider pays a fixed weekly sum for around 18–24 months to pay off a loan, at which point they own the motorcycle outright. Today, these agreements account for 60% of motorcycles on the road, with over half of them still in the process of paying off the motorcycle.
Finances
Daily revenues and profits are around 37,000 UGX and 15,000 UGX respectively, with owners making double the profits of renters and those on lease-to-own. However, this betrays a large difference between riders who own their motorcycles outright and those who are renting or paying them off. Renters on the kibaluwa system have the lowest daily profits, of around 8,665 UGX ($2.35), while those who have used lease to own systems to pay off their bikes are now taking home around 20,166 UGX ($5.38).
One of the more interesting findings is that revenues drop after riders finish paying off their motorcycle leases. As described by Kalungi James, boda rider and Lubyanza researcher, riders who are paying off their leases tend to seek additional daily work with the goal of ownership in mind, allowing them to relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor after paying it off.
Utilization
Utilization — defined as trips with passengers or visible loads — was around 59%, within 1% of observed utilization in October 2022. Delivery trips made up around 18% of these utilized trips, and passenger trips the other 82%. Delivery trips rose during the middle of the day, tapering off before the evening hours. Low utilization signals a saturated boda boda market, where there are more riders than passengers — while this can drive down costs for passengers, it encourages competition for passengers and potentially unsafe behavior.
The survey was carried out by Geofrey Ndhogezi and Kalungi James. The survey was designed by Tom Courtright with input from Dr. Paul Mukwaya and the surveyors. Final analysis was done by all of the above and Peter Kasaija. Data entry was also conducted by Judith Mbabazi, of the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University.
