Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Thursday, May 18, chaired a meeting with Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja on ways to effectively address the traffic crisis in Nairobi.
In a statement by the governor, the CS alongside Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (NAMATA) officials agreed on prioritising the stalled Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
Sakaja assured that the National Government would set aside the funds needed to fast-track the project into a reality.
“Together with the National Government, we are keen on ensuring that traffic jams are a thing of the past. Efficient, affordable and reliable mobility is key to unlocking the potential of our people," Sakaja indicated.
The stakeholders agreed that the project during former President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime was set to cost Ksh5.6 billion but stalled due to funds.
The primary aim of the project was to improve Nairobi's chaotic public transport to reduce congestion.
The BRT system, which was supposed to be unveiled to the public in June 2022, was set to include enclosed stations, centralised management of buses and adequate access facilities.
The project is expected to run from Kasarani along Thika Road through the Nairobi city centre to the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) area.
According to a report by World Bank published on February 1, 2023, the BRT project flopped due to poor institutional policies.
"Unregulated competition from paratransit operators (informal buses, minibuses, and taxis, etc, the difficulty of finalizing compensation deals and acrimonious relationships between paratransit operators and the government in SSA affect system revenue," reads part of the World Bank report.
Further, the report blamed poor coordination among institutions and lack of political support hampered the feasibility of the project.
Also, key reasons for the delay were high incidences of cash leakage, sub-optimal, politically driven fare setting and adjustment regimes that affect the financial performance of the transport sector.
