Maisha London! How the looming City Digital Matatus will work

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Plans are there by three firms, Little Cabs, Safiri Express and Egypt-based Swvl to introduce digital matatus in Kenya’s capital, but how will it work? Unlike matatus, commuters will be required to book a seat at the e-shuttle through mobile applications.

Most of the service providers consider using shuttles of at least 33-seater capacity, and with no conductors in the long term. After about eight months, for Little Cab.

Operation routes, pick-up and drop-off points for the three firms are determined based on demand.

However, future changes will be determined based on data collected by the shuttles once in operation.

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From an experience perspective, Brehven Otieno said his pick-up was seamless on his first ride, as the bus arrived at the time estimated in the app.

However, his drop-off time was about 11 minutes late, due to traffic congestion on Ngong Road.

Swvl currently operates along Thika Road, and on Ngong Road from CBD, using the Toyota Coaster mostly used for tours.

“Apart from traffic, the shuttles are cleaner and more spacious than the matatus currently ruling the public transit system,” Otieno says.

On pricing, Little’s CEO said it’s likely to be approximately 25 per cent more than the current pricing. For instance, a commuter who travels from the city to Gachie will pay about Sh75 and not the normal Sh60.

Swvl, on the other hand, will charge Sh10 for every kilometre. This means a commuter moving from the CBD to Thika, which is roughly 40km, will have to part with about Sh400, as opposed to the current Sh100 on average.

The payments will be cashless, as no cash payments will be allowed.

For Safiri express, as explained by Mwanzi, their second pilot is aimed at testing price sensitivity and mapping out routes for revenue maximisation.

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