Experts called in to drive matatu industry overhaul

The number of matatus operating along a route could soon be limited in new efforts to restore order in a sector that has been a law unto itself for nearly four decades.

The Ministry of Transport has invited a consultant to establish how many matatus would optimally ply an individual route as well as use central termini for boarding and disembarking of customers, in what is being seen as the first step towards possible scheduling of public transport services.

“The Board needs information on the number of PSVs which should be licensed per route, or allowed use a particular terminus. This would help in reducing congestion and wasteful competition among operators, creating order in the industry,” a notice from the ministry stated.

The ministry said that licensing of PSVs was over the years done without reliable data on the optimal number of vehicles required to meet the demand along a route during peak and off-peak hours.

“The study is going to help in the tendering of routes. That way you remove unfair competition. Eventually it will help the traffic situation,” said Edwins Mukabanah, the managing director of Kenya Bus Service Management.

Mr Mukabanah said that during off-peak hours it is common to find the few termini in the city congested because there are no parking spaces or existing termini on the outskirts of the city.

“We are benchmarking with other developed countries. There are a lot of vehicles coming to and from Nairobi and the question is whether they should all be allowed into the city centre,” said Moses Maina, the deputy secretary of road transport at the Ministry of Transport.

The consultant will be required to identify all routes used by public service vehicles, including matatus, minibuses and buses in Nairobi and establish the number of people who require public transport on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. They will also do a five- year demand forecast for public service vehicles.

Mr Maina said the study would form a foundation for making the city’s public transport sector efficient. It is envisaged that there will be drop-off points in the outskirts of the city with passengers being ferried to the city centre by a yet to be established rapid city transport for a fee.

The government last year ordered that all public transport vehicles should be run by registered companies or savings and credit co-operative societies. The 14-seater matatus are being phased out through denial of TLB licences from December last year.
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