New County Bill to Make Changes to Nairobi Transport

A Bill has been brought to the floor of Nairobi County Assembly regarding making changes to the transport industry, more specifically the nature of operations of matatus plying city routes.

The Nairobi City County Public Transport and Traffic Management Bill 2018 was moved by Eastleigh North MCA, Osman Ibrahim Adow.

The Bill will repeal all other defunct by-laws of public transport of the country. The following are some of the changes to be expected.

According to the provisions of the Bill, Nairobi residents will have the power to suspend matatu Saccos under the mandate of a Public Roads Transport and Management Committee.

The committee will have powers to suspend the permits of Sacco matatus if 75 per cent of route users sign a petition.

Regarding the changes, the conductors will have to profile persons and treat pregnant mothers, the elderly and the physically disabled with respect and priority.

Such special needs individuals will be given first preference when it comes to seat allocation. Failure to do so would open up the matatu owner to prosecution and conviction.

The Bill also provides prohibition against chewing of miraa, drinking of alcohol and smoking inside a matatu. The bill will, however, also protect the conductors from harassment by rowdy passengers by facilitating prosecution of such aggressors.

The new law will protect the operators from route gangs in addition to quarrelsome commuters that may not abide by the rules such as the prohibition of abuse of drugs while in the matatu.

The passengers will also be expected to form orderly queues at every stage.

They will have to wait for the vehicles’ engine to be switched off before boarding.

Matatu operators, on the other hand, will be expected to display fare charts and should not charge the passengers any more than the displayed amounts.

Breach of any of the laws will result in fines ranging from Ksh 50,000 to Ksh 500,000 or six months in jail, or both, depending on the specific offence.

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