Nairobi's isn't a unique challenge. Los Angeles, London, Mumbai, Shanghai and Lagos suffer terrible traffic jams at rush hour. They have found innovative solutions for their traffic problems. The cities' leaderships are alive to the need for an efficient and effective traffic management system that accommodates all forms of transport and the needs of pedestrians.
The National Transport and Safety Authority, NTSA, states that there are 2.5 million registered private motor vehicles in Kenya. A substantial proportion of those motor vehicles are to be found in Nairobi. The Matatu Owners' Association claims that there are over 7,000 matatus and buses plying their trade in Nairobi. The total number of taxi cabs in Nairobi remains unknown, but it is possible that there are about 3,000 of them on our roads. The Kenya Railways Corporation runs commuter trains that pass through stations at Imara Daima, Makadara, Syokimau and Mutindwa (the border between Buru Buru and Umoja). Some time ago, the County Government stated that Nairobi's population was approximately 3.5 millions.
These numbers demonstrate that there is a need for an effective and efficient public transport system and infrastructure. The traffic system in Nairobi is managed by the County Government, the National Police Service and the NTSA. The infrastructure includes traffic cameras, speed cameras, dual-carriage highways and main roads, arterial roads, access roads, a mix of different kinds of junctions, roundabouts, bus stops, bus stages, bus termini, on-street parking bays, car parks, parking towers and pedestrian walkways and bridges. On paper, the system and infrastructure should cope with the numbers of motorists and pedestrians on our roads. They don't. Not by a long shot.
Nairobi has two institutions in charge of its traffic: the national government and the county government. The county government has limited policing functions and no prosecutorial powers. To move the armies of commuters to and from their places of work requires a system that melds all the forms of transport into a seamless system. Our challenges are systemic; the laws we have are enforced selectively and the structures we have are poorly maintained. If public transport was better managed, the total stock of privately owned vehicles on the road would be reduced dramatically.
Traffic works when it flows, and it is vital that at rush hour that traffic flows smoothly. Key bottlenecks such as the places where traffic enters or exits the Central Business District must be managed efficiently. This requires a judicious use of law enforcement and an imaginative redesign of the traffic flow using a combination of bypasses, roundabouts, intersections, speed traps and traffic lights.
My experience of Jogoo Road is that indiscipline is allowed to to run rampant because law enforcement is just too overstretched to cope with a proliferation of traffic offenders, principally by private motorists who have more or less turned a two-lane dual carriage way into a three-lane one. Public service vehicles contribute mightily to the chaos by refusing to use bust stops and bus stages the way they were intended, picking up and dropping off passengers in a system that ensures maximum inconvenience not just to each other, but to other road users. Pedestrian walkways have been commandeered by an army of roadside vendors who make walking a harrowing a experience for pedestrians. Finally, pedestrian walkways are poorly maintained, and during the rainy seasons are impossible to use.
Perhaps we do not need an expansion in the commuter train system; but if we are to make a decent fist of things, we must go back to basics. Petty infractions must be punished ruthlessly. Roads must be maintained proper;y, especially lane markings, traffic lights and speed cameras. Public service vehicles must not be allowed to convert busy streets into termini. A bus can't simply spend an hour stationary waiting for passengers.
Especially the county government has proven woefully inept at managing transport in the city, even though that is its mandate. It fears the political backlash of enforcing its mandate. It has always feared to upset political constituencies, such as in the solid waste management sector, and that has contributed to the chaos we experience these days when it comes to rubbish removal. Until it gets a spine, we shall continue to suffer traffic chaos.
Traffic works when it flows, and it is vital that at rush hour that traffic flows smoothly. Key bottlenecks such as the places where traffic enters or exits the Central Business District must be managed efficiently. This requires a judicious use of law enforcement and an imaginative redesign of the traffic flow using a combination of bypasses, roundabouts, intersections, speed traps and traffic lights.
My experience of Jogoo Road is that indiscipline is allowed to to run rampant because law enforcement is just too overstretched to cope with a proliferation of traffic offenders, principally by private motorists who have more or less turned a two-lane dual carriage way into a three-lane one. Public service vehicles contribute mightily to the chaos by refusing to use bust stops and bus stages the way they were intended, picking up and dropping off passengers in a system that ensures maximum inconvenience not just to each other, but to other road users. Pedestrian walkways have been commandeered by an army of roadside vendors who make walking a harrowing a experience for pedestrians. Finally, pedestrian walkways are poorly maintained, and during the rainy seasons are impossible to use.
Perhaps we do not need an expansion in the commuter train system; but if we are to make a decent fist of things, we must go back to basics. Petty infractions must be punished ruthlessly. Roads must be maintained proper;y, especially lane markings, traffic lights and speed cameras. Public service vehicles must not be allowed to convert busy streets into termini. A bus can't simply spend an hour stationary waiting for passengers.
Especially the county government has proven woefully inept at managing transport in the city, even though that is its mandate. It fears the political backlash of enforcing its mandate. It has always feared to upset political constituencies, such as in the solid waste management sector, and that has contributed to the chaos we experience these days when it comes to rubbish removal. Until it gets a spine, we shall continue to suffer traffic chaos.
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