Old and New Taxi Parks

Prior to visiting Owino market, I was told that the best way to get there would be to take a taxi (a minibus) to the Old Taxi Park and walk from there. On one of my first trips to Owino, the taxi I was travelling in was got stuck in traffic that did not seem as though it was going to start moving again. I was travelling with Derrick, a student from Makerere University and he suggested that we walk to Owino Market from where we were. The quickest route passed straight through the Old Taxi Park, a 5 minute walk from the entrance of the market.

The Old Taxi Park holds up to 3000 taxis ; it has various pedestrian and taxi routes running in and out of the park. Destinations of the taxis are displayed on sign posts which are spread out around the Park. Some travellers seem to know exactly where they are heading, others spend time searching for relevant sign posts and/or asking people around them where to board the next bus to their intended destinations. Apart from travellers and taxi drivers there are also a number of vendors selling second hand clothing on the edges of the Park and mobile vendors selling snacks to people seated in parked taxis.

Over the last few weeks, I have noticed how important these taxi parks are for navigating the city. Taxis and boda bodas (motorbikes) are often the most efficient transport systems for getting around Kampala amidst its increasing traffic; though, these modes of transport are usually blamed for much of the CBD's road congestion.

Owino Market sits in between two of the main transport hubs in the city - the Old Taxi Park and the New Taxi Park and both are a few 100 metres away from the entrances to the Market. A few days ago, a clothes vendor at Owino Market mentioned that people from every district in the city and all over the country arrive at points within these Parks, the markets proximity to the taxi Parks encourages vendors and shoppers to come to the market making it a highly-desired location. Access to these transport hubs is a significant consideration for my design project.

Location signs in Old Taxi Park

New Taxi Park serves parts of the city, Western and Northern areas of the country. Before the 1990's it was a sports field.