Metro Trans East Africa Limited acquired five new fleets of electric buses on Thursday morning, May 11, as part of its ambitious plan to improve service delivery.
In a statement, the Sacco announced that the new fleets would be stationed at the Ambassadeur stage within the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).
In addition, they announced free rides to Utawala from the CBD-designated stage.
The acquisition of the electric buses was in conjunction with electric vehicle company BasiGo as part of its mandate to create the future of clean, electric public transport in the country.
"Welcome to the big launch this morning. MetroTrans EA Limited in conjunction with BasiGo will this morning be launching five electric fleets at the Ambassador stage and later offer Free rides to Utawala. Don't miss this," the statement read in part.
Earlier, BasiGo had announced that 15 electric buses would be delivered to Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators in Nairobi
The firm noted that the move was part of President William Ruto-led administration which sought to modernise the country's PSV sector.
On Wednesday, April 12, Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen affirmed that the government would provide incentives for PSVs to acquire electric vehicles.
He attributed this to the Finance Act of 2019 which reduced the excise tax on electric vehicles from 20 per cent to 10 per cent.
"The government will play its role in the transition to e-mobility by providing an enabling environment for development and mainstreaming e-mobility through fiscal incentives for importers, manufacturers, sellers, assemblers and spare part dealers," the CS stated.
He added that the government will also focus on ways of recycling batteries used by the EVs to ensure prevent environmental degradation.
"As we promote electric mobility, we must prepare as a nation to deal with batteries' end-of-life style in a manner that they will not cause any harm to the environment while exploring ways of recycling them or better ways of disposal will be crucial," he noted.
