During the daytime he works in an office as the chairperson of the Blen Taxi Owners’ Association in Bole zone, one of the 13 taxi owners’ association clustered under five zones since the reintroduction of the zoning system in 2011.
Unwilling to employ a driver, whose term it will be to bring 150 Br to 200 Br a day while working for the whole day; he gives transportation services with the taxi early in the morning before going to office and after office hours. During the rest of the day he works at Blen’s office where he represents close to 650 members of his association.
Working in the early morning and late afternoon, he is able to earn the 150 Br daily after covering his daily expenses and paying the woyala, his assistant, 100 Br.
As well as the blue and white minibus taxis there is also the Alliance city bus, Higer minibus and the saloon taxi, which are the main vehicles providing taxi transportation services in Addis Abeba. In addition to this, there are also code-3 mini buses, which are called in as supporters due to the shortage experienced by the residents, serving as taxis.
Anbessa, which started out with five buses in 1943, currently has 800 buses with which it transports 1.2 million people daily, according to the AARTB. Another company called Alliance, established in 2009, says it serves around 25,000 people a day with 25 buses. The bureau estimates the minibuses, around 500 in number, carry 700,000 commuters.
The second largest commuters after Anbessa’s customers are 1.1 million, who are catered for by the blue and white taxis. Private vehicles account for five percent and the remaining 60.5pc make their trips on foot.
There are 22,089 white and blue mini bus taxis registered and known to the Addis Abeba Road & Transport Bureau (AARTB), of which around 7, 503 are providing service either in full time on part times, like that of Nuredin’s to commuters in the city.
These are organized under the zoning system and operate through defined routes, which are displayed on the roof of their vehicles.
There are five minibus taxi transportation zones under which taxi services are clustered. These are Asco Zone, Bole Zone, Megenagna Zone, Saris Zone and Tor Hailoch Zone. The taxi owners’ that provide services within these zones are in turn organized under 13 Taxi Owner Associations.
Each of the taxis are assigned to routes within their zone and are not allowed to work outside these routes, except on Saturday afternoon and the whole day Sunday. Their compliance is controlled by the traffic police, the station and supervisors from the AARTB.
There are around 7, 050 mini buses, with Code-3 number plates, that are operating as taxis to support the regular blue and white, according to data from the information centre of the Bureau. These mini buses are not obliged to organize under the Associations nor strictly comply with the zoning, though they also have assigned routes handed through written letters, which they have to display, whenever they are asked by traffic police officers or supervisors from the Bureau. These code 3 vehicles were reintroduced after they were kicked out of the taxi business in January 18, 2010, when it was thought the Higer buses could fill the service gap.
Both the Code-3s and the regular blue and white mini buses provide the service at a fee defined by the government based on the distances they cover in kilometres. For a distance that covers up to 2.5Km the rate is 1.5 Br while it is 2.9 Br if the distance is more than 2.5Km but less than seven kilo meters. A commuter, who commutes a longer distance that ranges between 7.1Km and 10Km, pays 4.15Br. This will add an additional 0.5 Br for two more kilometers with the maximum payment for mini bus taxi usage goes up to 5.4 Br for long distance commuters covering as long as 12.1Km to 15Km.
Except for the few like Nuredin, most of the owners hire a driver, whose job it is to hire his own assistance, or Weyala in Ahmaric, for their taxis.
The common operational practice in the business, since Nuredin joined it as a hired driver in early 1980s, when he was providing taxis service with the then Fiat Mille centos that carry four people, is that there existed no written agreement governing the relationship between the owners of the taxis and the operators. There is also this consensual agreement that the owner gets a certain fixed amount of daily revenue from the driver, who is paid a nominal amount of salary.
During the time of Fiat Mille centos the drivers’ monthly salary was 100 Br while the daily income of the owner was 25 Br in weekdays and 30 Br on Saturdays, recalls Nuredin.
With the carrying capacity increased to 12 passengers at a time for the present mini bus taxis, the salary of the driver ranges from an average of 300 Br for the blue and white minibuses up to 700 Br for the drivers of the code three mini buses, according to information compiled from different drivers by Fortune.
Operating on the same customary rule, the owners of blue and white mini buses taxis earn from 150 Br up to 200 Br on a daily basis while owners of the code three mini buses earn 400 Br daily. Without any written commitment between the drivers and the owners, it is the drivers’ duty to bring the fixed daily revenue of the owners and any amount beyond the fixed amount goes to the driver and his assistant; the driver also covers daily expenses as well as a per diem ranging between 50 Br and 100 Br daily.
Back in the early years of mini bus taxis the owner of a taxi was able to buy another taxi within three to four years in the business, according to Nuredin, which himself has done the same.
“Though difficult for owners to manage the daily operations, it was attractive and profitable business,” he recalls. “But these days, you have to struggle to keep the one on your hand maintained, let alone buying new one.”
The increased regulation by the government, the increased price of spare parts and fuel and the amount of the tariff as well as the complexities of the relationship between the owners’ and the drivers, are reasons why the benefit to the owners is no longer as good, he says.
The tariff is fixed solely considering the price of diesel, claims Abebaw Kasa, a member of Tsehaye Taxi Owners’ Association from Meganagna zone. However, the price of spare parts and the cost of maintenance are increasing, but both are not considered in the tariff setting process. In addition, the work of the taxis is restricted to the route they are assigned, which may be good for owners to control their property.
“But a business that operates within restriction is not inviting,” he claims.
Despite the increasing number of mini buses providing taxi service without the need to join the owners’ association and getting the blue and white colour, the number of blue and white mini bus taxis is not increasing as it was before. The total number of these mini buses that has joined the service for the past four years is only 47 with no new entrants in the just ended fiscal year, according to data from the AARTB.
“Most of those interested to join the business are not interested to get the blue and white colour,” claims Abebaw. “It is the colour that is the problem.”
Almost all of the Associations confirmed to Fortune that there is no new taxi added to their membership while the existing numbers are shrinking from time to time.
“The sector is no longer attractive for new investors,” says Asmamaw Tiku, chairperson of Tila Taxi Owners’ Association from Asco Zone. “Those in the business are also leaving it for other options.”
Most of the leaders of the associations all share the same view on what they believe to be the reason for the declining interest to invest in the sector.
One of the common cry is a problem they believe to emanate from the government regulation.
Once a certain mini bus has got in to the business getting a blue and white colour the government does not allow them to leave, meaning to change their plate code, according to the owners, which is also confirmed by officials at the Bureau.
“There is no ground to get in to a house, which will be closed behind you,” claims Yibeltal of Nisir. “The sector has become unattractive.”
Admitting the complaint from the taxi owners’ the Bureau, however, says that the decision was made as a short term solution to keep the taxis, most of which were applying to shift their Code-1 plate to Code-3, according to Genet Dibaba, communication process leader at the Bureau.
The taxi owners, however, believe that the Code-3 mini buses have better operational freedom as well as options as compared to the blue and white colour mini buses taxis.
“They can move out of the city’s boundaries, they can provide a contractual service and they can also provide taxi service without being forced to display their routes on their roof,” claims Yibeltal Abate of Nisir Taxi Owners’ Association from Bole zone. “If changing to Code-3 is allowed, no one would be left under the Code-1.”
The other shared reason they think is contributing for the marginalization of the business is the fact that the government has allowed non blue and white taxis to provide taxi services in the city. These mini buses are from different regions and their plate code is not the one for the Mini bus taxis.
The claims of an attractiveness of the sector, however, are not acceptable to the regulatory body.
Nonetheless, the decision to engage the Code-3 mini buses was made to solve the problem of transportation in consultation with the owners’ association, according to Genet.
“The problem lies with the regulatory capacity of the owners association,” she says. “The Bureau believes that the business is profitable as it stands.”
Compared to the vehicles that were used to serve as taxis back in the late 1970s and early 1980s such as Secentos and wuyiyits, the blue and white mini bus taxis are the longest in service. Their replacement is nearing with the recent announcement of the government’s intention to gradually replace the mini bus taxis with minibuses that will cope with the upcoming light railway transit (LRT).
Owners of the taxis will be assisted to reorganize themselves into two companies that will run the minibuses that will have carrying capacity of 24 passengers, according to the announcement made to the taxi owners’ association in June 2014.
With the promise to find a way for the owners to get 70pc of the cost for the minibuses on credit and a possibility of duty free importation while the 30pc shall be saved by them, the owners are hoping for upgrading to a mass transport, according to those Fortune talked to. At Nisir, the members are already taking measures for the future, with 60 of the owners having already started saving and 170 to follow soon.
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