The President's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Chairperson David Ndii announced the government’s ambitious plan to decongest Nairobi City.
Ndii through a public statement made on Sunday, February 5, announced that the government plans to decongest the city by locking out private cars from Central Business District (CBD).
Owners of private cars will be forced to park their vehicles outside CBD and take public transport to the heart of the city.
“We have planned for Park and Ride system in corroboration with Nairobi County Government,” the CEA Chairperson announced.
Park and Ride is a form of integrated transport that allows private transport users to park their vehicles at a large car park and travel into the CBD using public service vehicles.
The massive car parks are located outside the CBD so as to relieve traffic congestion along the roads leading into the city center.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government had on February 2022, revealed a similar plan to have a Park and Ride system at Thika Road.
This plan was first revealed by former Housing Principal Secretary Charles Hinga who indicated that the initiative would decongest the heavy traffic jam experienced in the area.
“To solve the traffic menace, the government is going to introduce a reliable alternative where you can drive to, for example, Kasarani and park your car there.
"The government will then provide alternative public transport in form of a train or Bus Rapid Transport (BRT)," Hinga revealed back then.
Ndii's latest revelation seeks to expand the initial plan by the former Head of State to have car parks located at strategic entry points to the metropolis.
“We will have the car parks at the city’s main entry points like; Nyayo Stadium, City Stadium, Kenyatta Hospital, and Muthaiga,” he revealed.
However, this is an exit from Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja's plan to decongest the city by limiting the number of public service vehicles (PSVs) entering the CBD.
As part of his plan, Sakaja had relocated all long-distance PSVs plying upcountry routes to the Green Park Terminus in a move that attracted public outcry.
"I have heard talk that Nairobi was like this before I was born, but I want to tell them that that's why I am the governor. We must change our city, and there is no shortcut to that," the governor announced amidst opposition to decongest the city.
Among those opposed to Sakaja's decongestion strategy were Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and a host of politicians who argued that relocating long-distance matatus from the CBD would hurt the businesses of neighbouring counties.
