{"id":2000126956,"date":"2026-09-24T14:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000126956"},"modified":"2026-09-24T17:02:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T15:02:47","slug":"how-rwandan-students-turned-lessons-from-poland-into-app-helping-kigali-commuters-track-buses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/how-rwandan-students-turned-lessons-from-poland-into-app-helping-kigali-commuters-track-buses\/","title":{"rendered":"How Rwandan students turned lessons from Poland into app helping Kigali commuters track buses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ishimwe, who was born in Gikondo, Kicukiro, studied International Business with a specialization in Modern Logistics at WSG University in Poland. He now works for Thales Alenia Space, a Franco-European company specializing in satellite and space technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together with fellow students Shema Aime Cesar and Ishimwe Byiringiro Etienne, he developed Gerayo App, a mobile application designed to help passengers plan journeys and track Kigali\u2019s bus services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea emerged while the students were observing how technology was being used in Poland\u2019s transport system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are a group of three students who developed the application after observing how the transport system works here. We thought, \u2018Couldn\u2019t it be good if we applied technology to improve transportation in Rwanda?\u2019\u201d Ishimwe told IGIHE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team used knowledge acquired at university to develop the application and financed its initial online hosting and other costs through their personal savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerayo allows users to enter their current location and destination and receive information on available buses, routes and expected travel times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Ishimwe, the application uses bus timetables provided by Ecofleet to determine departure intervals, distances and estimated travel times. It also uses Google Maps to estimate how long a passenger may take to walk to a bus stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The app can be particularly useful for people unfamiliar with Kigali\u2019s public transport network, allowing them to plan their trips before leaving home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you are walking on foot, the application uses Google Maps to show you how long it may take to reach the bus station,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The application has been in use for four months and has already attracted about 1,500 users in a week, equivalent to roughly 228 users per day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ishimwe said the users are mainly young people, students and other commuters, with a survey showing that people aged between 16 and 32 form the largest user group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He believes the service can help passengers reduce waiting time and transport costs while making it easier to arrive at their destinations on time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hope many people can take advantage of the app, spend less on transport and reach their destinations on time. It can also help people who may not be able to afford private transport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team is now looking beyond journey planning, with plans to introduce payment and e-ticketing features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe first want to integrate a payment system into the application based on feedback from users,\u201d Ishimwe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The developers are also considering partnerships with existing payment providers and transport companies to eventually enable passengers to book seats and pay for tickets through the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ishimwe said collaboration with public institutions and private companies will be important as the project develops. He cited Ecofleet as one of the companies whose publicly accessible transport information can help improve the application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team also hopes to eventually expand Gerayo beyond Kigali to other cities across Rwanda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Ishimwe, the project was partly inspired by a personal experience. After a relative was involved in a motorcycle accident in 2023, he encouraged the person to use public transport. The experience later contributed to discussions that led to the development of the application in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerayo is currently available on Google Play and the Apple Store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Shema Aime Cesar, one of the three students behind Gerayo App, contributed to developing the technology aimed at making Kigali\u2019s public transport network easier for passengers to navigate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ishimwe Byiringiro Etienne, a member of the Gerayo development team, is part of the group working to use technology to improve how passengers access information about public transport in Kigali.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Kevin Ishimwe, Managing Director of Gerayo App, leads the team behind the public transport application and its development.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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IGIHE journalist during an interview with Kevin Ishimwe, one of the developers of Gerayo App, about how lessons from Poland inspired the team to develop a digital solution for Kigali\u2019s public transport system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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karirima@igihe.com<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 26, Rwandan youth Kevin Ishimwe is using skills gained while studying in Poland to help make public transport in Kigali easier to navigate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000126961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[151,69],"byline":[2285],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000126956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","tag-editors-choice","tag-homehighlights","byline-karirima-a-ngarambe-8"],"bylines":[{"id":2285,"name":"Karirima A. Ngarambe","slug":"karirima-a-ngarambe-8","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":2285,"name":"Karirima A. Ngarambe","slug":"karirima-a-ngarambe-8","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":{"id":2000126961,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-09-23-at-17.59.19-1.jpg.jpeg","alt":"","caption":"Kevin Ishimwe, Managing Director of Gerayo App, leads the team behind the public transport application and its development.","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":800,"height":707,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-09-23-at-17.59.19-1.jpg.jpeg","width":800,"height":707},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-09-23-at-17.59.19-1.jpg.jpeg","width":800,"height":707},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-09-23-at-17.59.19-1.jpg.jpeg","width":800,"height":707},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-09-23-at-17.59.19-1.jpg.jpeg","width":800,"height":707},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-09-23-at-17.59.19-1.jpg.jpeg","width":800,"height":707}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000126956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000126956"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000126956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000126993,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000126956\/revisions\/2000126993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000126961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000126956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000126956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000126956"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000126956"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000126956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}