Nairobi County Government, on Friday, April 7, announced a master plan set to reduce the driving time in and out of the Central Business District (CBD) to 15 minutes.
According to the Nairobi Mobility Department, the county will unveil a new plan to reduce movement time from Koja Roundabout to Haile Selassie Avenue to 15 minutes.
Governor Johnson Sakaja's administration also plans to implement the same strategy for motorists using Moi Avenue Primary School to Railway Station Roundabout.
"One of the key areas we aim to improve on during our Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) thematic area is to ensure vehicular movement reduction time from 45 minutes to 15 minutes along Tom Mboya and Moi Avenue," County Chief Officer, Boniface Nyamu told Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
During the rollout, Nairobi County would also target motorists flouting traffic rules in the city, including those double parking in the CBD.
Further, the county intends to pursue motorists setting up illegal bus stages within the CBD causing traffic congestion.
"The Mobility team has set up a multi-sectoral approach and deployed Enforcement officers to ensure that the traffic laws are adhered to, and anybody found contravening the rules and regulations put in place will be penalised for offenses like double parking, illegal bus stages and private cars operating as public service vehicles (PSVs); which have been identified as the major cause of congestion in Nairobi Central Business District (CBD)," Nairobi Mobility Department added.
To implement the new strategy, the county government implored Matatu Saccos to adopt new strategies, including using walkie-talkies to help clear traffic and ensure the smooth movement of cars in the stipulated time.
Besides adopting technology, the county indicated that it had laid out strategies to educate road users about county by-laws and traffic rules.
"The biggest headache in the city is passenger service vehicles (PSVs). We continue to educate them that only two vehicles are allowed at the parking bay at a time.
"One that is dropping passengers and another one that is picking passengers, all other vehicles should be waiting outside CBD,” Nyamu insisted.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen recently announced the government's plan to roll out instant fines for motorists flouting traffic rules.
He also disclosed plans to erect cameras on different highways to monitor traffic on major highways.
'We will put cameras from the highway all the way from Mombasa to Kisumu, and there will be instant enforcement. We shall ensure that the cameras are put on the roads this year," Murkomen announced.
Murkomen also stated that the government was at an advanced stage of allowing private companies to conduct car inspections.
"Car inspection will be different, unlike before. We only have five car inspection centres. We will look for investors to set up car inspections around the country so that we make it mandatory for all cars in Kenya.
"We have completed the regulations with the lawmakers and very soon we will make the advertisement very soon," he stated.
