What is the worst night mare to any city dweller than traffic jam? Traffic jam affects many residents of the city especially Nairobi.
The amount of time one can take to navigate through the city in our matatus someone can even just prefer walking on foot.
Despite extension of different roads and creation of major highways the nightmare still haunts the city. Where did the road constructors go wrong on this issue?
An organisation that provides technical transport and planning expertise to governments has estimated that Nairobi will require Sh100 billion to implement the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system to ease traffic congestion in Kenya’s capital.
The Institute of Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), which was involved in establishing the BRT system in Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg, has said that having dedicated lanes for public transport as well as the right vehicles would reduce traffic in and out of the city.
However according to Christopher Kost, the Africa director of the institute, for BRT to work in Kenya the bus lanes should be located at the centre of the road.
This is in contrast to the BRT lane demarcated along the busy Thika Road in April that is located on the far right lane, underlining how far the government has to go if it is to implement the project successfully despite a December 12 deadline issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta by which at least two stages of the project must be ready for him to ride one of the buses during Jamhuri Day celebrations.
Additionally, ITDP says systems to collect fare before boarding and stations that have platforms level with the buses which are wheel chair accessible must also be in place.
“We need a dedicated right of way for the buses, not just paint,” Mr Kost said during a policy forum in the BRT system held Tuesday.
He said that ITDP has been working with the government to ensure the current roads are designed with a view of implementing the BRT system in the next few years.
“Waiyaki way (which is currently being expanded) is a perfect example of a road that is designed to incorporate the BRT. KenHA is aware that there will be BRT and so when the time comes, it will be easy to implement it” Mr Kost said.
He added that it would take about 5 to 10 years to build 86km of BRT.
Last week, the European Union said it had allocated a Sh5 billion grant to go towards implementation of the BRT plan, which was earlier estimated to require Sh9.6 billion to implement.
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