Two buses were unveiled on Tuesday ahead of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) set to be launched in Nairobi.
The buses, from Isuzu East Africa, were manufactured and assembled locally by the car company after the gazettement of the standards required for the BRT buses.
Speaking during a meeting with the Nairobi commuter operators, Isuzu East Africa Managing Director Rita Kavashe stated that the buses were designed to create enough space for both sitting and standing passengers.
"Kenya has the capacity to manufacture these buses for our cities and this should be encouraged since it will create jobs as well as enable operators easily access credit finance to fund acquisition of the buses," stated Rita.
She further revealed that funding for the making of the buses was facilitated through partnerships between local stakeholders in the transport and banking sector.
The vehicles are set to ferry a range of between 62 to 100 passengers in one trip with a speed limit of 60 kph.
Nairobi Bus Transporters Alliance chairman Edwin Mukabana pointed out the system was necessary to facilitate smooth movement of traffic on Nairobi roads as PSV's will be allocated a lane on all the major roads.
Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai noted that the system should be hastened to curb the traffic snarl up witnessed during rush hours in the city.
"We support BRT as it includes all public service vehicles (PSVs) and must start off with segregating lanes for all PSV where private vehicle owners are barred.
"That will discourage private vehicle owners from using their costly vehicles leaving them at home in favour of the cheap BRT vehicles that we are ready to invest in," remarked Kimutai.
The BRT buses are set to operate on the marked lanes such as one on the Thika Superhighway that was painted back in April this year.
