The Federal Transportation Authority has announced that long distance bus services will be required to color code their vehicles as of the 10th of November. The vehicles will be coded according to their service level.

Bus Owners have been given enough time to paint their vehicles according to specifications said Birhane Zeru Deputy Chair of the Federal Cross Country Public Transport Associations Coalition. Many owners have already completed the process which will cost about 20,000 birr he said. 

Level One buses will be green on top and white at the bottom, while level two will be white on top and blue on the bottom and level three buses will be painted white on the top and yellow on the bottom he said.

The new move is part of efforts to improve long distance bus service and make it more modern and free of illegal activity that take advantage of the public.

Most people have to use long distance bus services for travel within the country because they can’t afford other options such as flying according to Birhane. There are however consistent complaints about the quality of service he explained. This has resulted in an increased number of minibuses making cross country travel said Birhane.

 It is expected that the cross country bus associations will form a coalition with 900 hundred large buses although only a 100 of the vehicles are of good quality.

There are also plans underway to make trips to the main bus station in Addis Ababa for early morning trips easier and less expensive said Birhane. In the future sun stations will be established in different parts of the city he explained.

Source: Capital