Nairobi’s Traffic Congestion Cost Kenya USD 1 Billion In A Year

Traffic congestion in Nairobi city cost Kenya approximately USD 1 billion a year, Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (NAMATA) has revealed.

In a new report, the capital was ranked as the world’s fourth most congested city hosting more than 3 million people, the average travel time in the city is 57 minutes.

“Lack of a scheduled public transport system and an elaborate non-motorized transport network forces people to use personal vehicles over short distances, whereas they would have otherwise walked, cycled or used public transport,” Bloomberg reported.

A different study by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), studies showed that Kenya loses over KES 50 million daily in traffic jams. An amount that results in KES 18.25 billion loss annually.

“This traffic congestion is usually experienced mostly in the morning and evening hours when people are headed to and from their respective work stations. Additionally, school buses are also caught in these menus while ferrying learners,” the firm’s CEO Kwame Owino said.

The Kenyan government’s effort to curb the traffic crisis is yet to be implemented. In June, the Transport Ministry announced plans to establish a special firm to run KES 1.6bn Nairobi high-capacity buses.

The firm would operate the 64 high-capacity buses aimed at easing traffic in Nairobi, the government will acquire 32 buses from South Africa and another 32 locally.

The government is also set to launch six BRT corridors in Nairobi key among them being the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to Likoni, James Gichuru-Rironi and Bomas to Ruiru roads.

The corridors are expected to hold up to 950 high capacity buses reducing travel time and cost by up to 70 percent.

Featured Image Courtesy: BusinessDailyAfrica