Every weekday morning, long before the first school bell rings, thousands of students across Kampala begin a journey that is as much a part of their education as the lessons awaiting them in class.
They leave home before sunrise carrying school bags, lunch boxes and transport fare. They navigate busy taxi stages, endure traffic congestion and hope to arrive before the school gates close. For parents, the morning often begins with a different concern: Has my child found transport? Did they arrive safely?
For many Ugandan families, the school commute has long depended on cash payments, unpredictable transport arrangements and trust. That reality is beginning to change.
MTN Uganda, in partnership with E-Bus Xpress and Sparklab Technologies, has launched Y’ello Booth, a digital student transport platform designed to make school journeys safer, smarter and cashless. The solution combines digital payments, Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and real-time journey notifications into one integrated platform that connects students, parents and transport providers.
The initiative was unveiled at Kololo Senior Secondary School, one of the first schools participating in a pilot programme alongside Kitante Primary School. Together, the pilot is expected to serve approximately 300 student commuters daily before expanding to additional schools across the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area.
At the centre of the platform is a simple idea: remove the uncertainty from the daily school commute.
Each student receives an NFC-enabled wristband that is tapped when boarding and alighting from an E-Bus Xpress bus. Parents subscribe to transport packages through MTN MoMo using the USSD code 27280#, selecting daily, weekly, monthly or termly plans. Every tap automatically generates notifications confirming that a student has boarded the bus and arrived safely at their destination.
The result is a transport system that removes the need for students to carry cash while giving parents greater visibility into a journey they often cannot witness.
Speaking during the launch, MTN Uganda General Manager for the Enterprise Business Unit, Ibrahim Senyonga, said the platform was developed to address everyday challenges faced by students and their families.
“Today is not just about launching a new service. It is about making your everyday school journey safer, reliable, smarter and easier,” he said.
He also said that many students continue to face long waits for transport and the inconvenience of carrying cash, while parents are left wondering whether their children have arrived safely.
“We all know the challenges students face today. Long waits for transport, the need to carry cash, and for parents, the worry of not always knowing whether their children have arrived safely. That is exactly why MTN, together with E-Bus Xpress and Sparklab, has come up with this solution called the Y’ello Booth.” he said.
The platform also aims to simplify household financial planning. Rather than providing children with daily transport money, parents can pay for transport in advance through structured subscription packages.
John Isabirye, Key Account Manager at MTN Uganda, said the solution builds on payment habits already familiar to many Ugandan households.
“Many parents already use MoMo to pay school fees, and today we are extending that convenience by making school transport fully cashless,” he said.
According to Isabirye, the system allows parents to better manage transport expenses while ensuring that students have consistent access to reliable transport services.
Accessibility has also been considered in the platform’s design. Parents can manage subscriptions using either smartphones or feature phones, ensuring that the service remains available regardless of the type of mobile device they own.
The partnership brings together three organisations with complementary roles. MTN Uganda provides the digital payment infrastructure through MTN MoMo while enabling interoperability with Airtel Money. Sparklab Technologies developed the Y’ello Booth platform, manages student enrolment, parent engagement and the issuance of NFC wristbands. E-Bus Xpress operates the electric buses, manages transport routes and delivers the daily transport service.
For E-Bus Xpress, the initiative represents more than a new transport service. It signals the beginning of a broader transformation in how students move around Uganda’s cities.
Addressing students during the launch, Managing Director Eng. Ian John Kavuma described the programme as the first step toward a national model for student mobility.
“You are the first group of students to experience what we believe will become the new standard for school mobility across Uganda. This launch at Kololo Senior Secondary School is the beginning of a national journey to transform how students move, pay and experience public transport,” he said.
During the pilot phase, students will access dedicated transport services before the full subscription model is rolled out. Following the pilot, the partners intend to extend the platform to more schools before scaling it nationally.
The initiative also reflects the growing role of digital technology in addressing everyday challenges faced by Ugandan families. While digital payments have become increasingly common for school fees, utilities and shopping, school transport has remained largely dependent on cash and informal arrangements.
By combining digital payments, connected mobility and real-time communication, Y’ello Booth introduces a more structured approach to student transport—one that enhances convenience, improves accountability and gives parents greater peace of mind.
For students, the journey to school will still begin early, Kampala’s traffic will remain a daily challenge, and rainy mornings will continue to test commuters. But with a simple tap of a wristband, parents can now know when their children have boarded the bus and when they have arrived safely at school.
In a city where every school day starts with a journey, that small piece of reassurance could make a significant difference.
