What followed was a back-and-forth, with orders given and retracted. The matatus are still in town, while Mr Sonko surrendered the transport function to NMS.
Right after being sworn in, Mr Sonko said he would kick out matatus from the city centre. A month later, he suspended the plans for a month to allow the industry to self-regulate as the two parties looked for a permanent solution to the traffic problem.
Months passed, and in April 2018, the governor once again revisited the plan to ban matatus from the city centre. He ordered PSVs to terminate their journeys outside town.
The physically challenged and the elderly were to be ferried from their stages to the city centre by the buses that the National Youth Service had introduced a month earlier. But less than 14 hours later, the ban had been suspended, with the governor citing a lack of contingent measures before enforcement of the ban and need for time to allow more consultations with the affected parties.
“Let us all be proactive to resolve these endemic traffic gridlocks that threaten our existence and growth as a proud, emerging city. Let us all be the solution. Both at a personal and corporate level. Not just the PSVs,” he had said then.
Mr Sonko gave matatu operators in the city three more months to shape up, adding that, in the meantime, only three vehicles per sacco would be allowed in.
Nothing happened. The matatus continued operating as usual.
In December 2018, the former Makadara MP revisited the matter, more determined to get it right. His administration tried to effect the May 12, 2017 gazette notice that had flopped during Dr Kidero’s tenure.
This only took effect for three days before suffering the same fate as others before it.
Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai, at the time, said for such an order to succeed, enough parking spaces must be provided, holding grounds made available and a cashless matatu system introduced to end impunity by matatu crew, who used cash to buy their way out of trouble.
“The problem is the private vehicles as they form 95 per cent of the vehicles in the city centre,” he said.
Ever since, there have been on and off plans to achieve the ban on matatus in the city centre.
Matatu operators say the plans have been failing because the designated termini have only about 500 parking slots, yet there are more than 20,000 matatus entering the city centre each day.
They estimate that more than 5,000 public service vehicles ply the Jogoo Road route, Thika Road and Waiyaki Way have more than 3,000, Mombasa and Lang’ata road routes have more than 8,000, while Ngong Road has more than 1,000 matatus.
Experts in the transport sector hold the view that for decongestion of the city to succeed, private vehicles should first be discouraged from entering the town, pedestrian walkways should be improved to promote people walking to their destinations and thirdly, stricter public transport regulations be put in place.
Private vehicles can be kept out of the city centre by having fewer parking slots as well as fewer streets open to vehicles, says the Institute of Transport Development and Policy, the Africa Programme Director Christopher Kost.
“If there are fewer parking spots and the parking fee is increased to let’s say, Sh1,000, then very few cars would come into the city,” he said.
Research by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kippra) titled Nairobi Metropolitan Region Transportation Challenges in 2017 revealed that private vehicles account for 64 per cent of the traffic volume in Nairobi, but ferry just 22 per cent of the people who use Nairobi roads.
Urban planner Constant Cap called for the introduction of cross-city routes as a way of ensuring the majority of people can move easily about the city, saying the lack of non-motorised transport infrastructure such as pedestrian walkways and cycling paths had made short walkable distances dangerous for pedestrians.
“There are no pedestrian walkways and no cycle paths for those who want to cycle. Like the stretch between Kempinski (Hotel) and the University of Nairobi, is very short, but very dangerous because there’s no place to walk,” said Mr Cap.
He further explained that a standard framework for the matatu sector is needed, especially in the model of vehicles that are used.
He suggests that 14-seater vans be scrapped and replaced with high capacity vehicles such as the shuttle buses.
A study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) showed that more than 80 per cent of public transport on trunk roads consists of 14-seater matatus, an ineffective use of the limited urban infrastructure that causes traffic congestion and accidents.
It is the Jica report that recommended matatu route-cut at the city centre along major public transport corridors such as Thika Road and the consequent erection of termini at Globe Cinema Roundabout, Presidential Pavilion near Uhuru Park to cut off matatu routes to/from Ngong Road, and in Muthurwa to cut matatu routes to/from Jogoo and Enterprise roads.
Also, the expert urges the county to invest in mass public transport and buy buses to ferry passengers from the designated bus stations outside the city.
Another possibility is investing in light rail to Nairobi’s suburbs using the already existing railway station in town and several new stations serving various estates.
Credit: Source link