The schedule contains the time and routes BRT buses will ferry commuters to and from the Central Business District (CBD) to Nairobi estates.
NaMATA said it will first deploy 12 buses across five city routes and have been allocated lines which have been christened Ndovu Line, Simba Line, Chui Line, Kifaru Line and Nyati Line.
The authority has since pushed through approval and gazettement of the five-node BRT bus network that will see commuters enjoy hourly bus services.
NaMATA’s five routes — Ndovu, Simba, Kifaru, Nyati and Chui will cover Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD), Kenya’s financial hub of Upperhill and straight into various estates.
Ndovu line starts at 6am from Kangemi running through Westlands (6.15am), town centre (6.30am) onwards to Nairobi West (6.45am), NextGen Mall (7am) and end its first journey at 7.15am.
A similar schedule is planned for a second BRT bus running in the opposite direction from Imara Daima (6am) arriving at Kangemi at 7.15am.
Ndovu line also has a second trip planned for the same route starting at Kangemi and Imara Daima respectively at 7am through the same route until 8.30am.
For the morning trip, Simba line runs from Bomas of Kenya through Blue Sky/T-Mall to Nairobi CBD then passing through Thika Road on its way to Ruiru township.
Chui Line has been reserved for Njiru-Showground route connecting the two nodes via Nairobi CBD while Kifaru line is dedicated to Mama Lucy-Dohnhom-CBD-T-Mall-Bomas-Karen-Kikuyu route with Nyati Line linking Ridgeways (Kiambu road), Balozi (Allsops) to Imara Daima estate.
The BRT is to be complemented by the commuter rail network that will expand to include Limuru, Ngong, Ruai, Kenol-Murang’a, JKIA, Konza to the newly introduced Athi River and JKIA nodes on top of the existing Kiambu Town, Ruiru and Syokimau.
The five BRT and seven commuter rail corridors have since been gazetted with infrastructure being developed across Nairobi to accommodate BRT buses and new trains acquired to help ‘move’ Nairobi.
NMS also plans to decongest Nairobi by effecting the ban on matatus from the city center by end of January.
Sh5 billion has also been spent on compulsory acquisition of Nairobi Railways Club land to accommodate a passenger terminal that will serve public service vehicles (PSVs) plying Ngong Road and Lang’ata Road, including Kawangware, Kikuyu, Kibera, Lang’ata, Rongai and Kiserian as their pick-up and drop-off point.
The two transport hubs will be complemented by the bus termini at Desai and Park roads, Workshop road, Fig Tree and Muthurwa, which are to be used by long distance buses thereby freeing up space within the CBD for smooth flow of traffic.
NMS also plans to add a terminus at the Globe Cinema Roundabout.
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