The government has revealed that private transport companies will now be tapped to manage the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system.
In a statement to the press, Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority acting Director Francis Gitau noted that the winning company (or group of companies) would be awarded a 12-year concession period to manage the project.
He further noted that in the initial rollout expected to take place in February 2022, 300 high capacity buses will be launched to ease traffic along major highways in Nairobi.
The announcement has effectively ended speculations that rocked the transport industry over whether the project would be run by the state or private entities.
"BRT will be run through a transport service contract. A concession of about 12 years. The concession will be procured competitively.
"We are currently developing the request for the proposal document," stated Gitau according to Business Daily.
Gitau, in a recent interview, explained the launch of Nairobi Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) System was postponed by one year due to delays brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The initial launch date had been slated for 2021.
"For this corridor, the Thika Road BRT, which is government-funded, saw the communication plan delayed due to Covid-19 as we could not congregate like before.
"This led to shifting everything close to a year. But now we are moving forward to see it completed by February 2022," stated Gitau.
Part of the new facilities being created for the project is the park and ride center in Kasarani where personal car owners can leave their vehicles to use the BRT buses.
He further noted that there will be a bus terminal at KNH with depots in Kasarani and Ruiru.
In the 2021/2022 financial year, the government allocated Ksh700 Million to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System even as the Thika Road construction takes shape.
The money was expected to jumpstart the first phase which is from Ruiru Town to the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
In the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 financial years, the government intends to triple the money for the project to Ksh2 billion and Ksh2.1 billion respectively.
The BRT plan integrated in 2015 was in a bid to streamline congestion in the Central Business District.
Two years ago, the Ministry of Transport had given an 18-month timeline for the completion of the first phase which would have been infrastructure.
According to the proposal, the BRT was to have six corridors. Line one from (Limuru-Kitengela), Line two (Rongai-Kenol), Line three(Tala-Ngong), Line four(Mama Lucy hospital- Kikuyu) and Line five (Ridgeways-Imara Daima).
