Size and Structure: The Transport sector is complementary to other sectors namely; Agriculture, Forestry, Tourism, Mining, Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, Housing development and Information and Communication Technology.
The sector has two subsectors, transportinfrastructure and transport services. In Uganda, the existing transport services include but are not
limited to road, air, railway, and water..The transport service sub sector contributed 2.5% of GDP,equivalent to Shs1, 248 billion at current prices in 2011/12 financial year.
Air transport and support services contributed 0.7% of GDP equivalent to Shs332 billion in 2011/12 financial year.
Road Transport infrastructure:The total national road network is estimated at 78,100 km of which 4 per cent is paved. The length of paved roads increased from 3,112 kilometres in
2010 to 3,264 kilometres in 2011. The Government of Uganda has placed high priority on development and maintenance of road infrastructure in the next
10 years.
Road Transport services: Include Passenger Service Vehicles (PSV), which consists of buses and mini buses; privately owned cars, cargo vehicles, motorcycles (Boda Bodas) used
to transport passengers; bicycles and to a limited extent donkeys. Government intends to put in place
a high volume public transport system to manage
traffic levels in the country.
Air Transport infrastructure: Air transport is playing an increasing role in the promotion of tourism and in regional integration. In addition, since the country relies on the sea route to Mombasa for international trade, air transport is an alternative transport system especially in the transportation of perishable products.
In terms of infrastructure, Entebbe InternationalAirport is currently the main functional entry and exit point into the country. There are also
aerodromes (airfields) in Uganda namely: Arua,Gulu, Soroti, Pakuba, Kidepo Mbarara, Masindi,Jinja, Lira, Moroto, Kisoro and Kasese, which have been designated as exit points to handle cross border air traffic within the region. There are 60 licensed airfields but only 30 are in use.
Rail Transport infrastructure: Currently, there are 321 km of functional rail network covering the main line from Malaba-Kampala route (251km), the Port Bell-Kampala link (9 km) and the Tororo-Mbale line (61km). Theincreasing export and import cargo volumes are creating a significant investment potential in railway
transport.
Water Transport infrastructure: 18 per cent of Uganda’s surface area consists of lakes, rivers or swamps. The principal lake and river system includes Lakes; Victoria, Kyoga, Albert and George, together with River Kagera, the River Nile.
Currently, both motorized and non motorized vessels ply the above lakes and rivers. Some water routes are served by wagon ferries while others are served by road bridge vehicle ferries. The wagon ferry routes are Port Bell - Mwanza and Port Bell-Kisumu, which also connect to the rail network.
There are seven bridge vehicle ferries including three on Lake Victoria, two on Victoria Nile, one on Lake Albert and one on Albert Nile.
