The average time spent per 10 kilometre on roads in Nairobi is the second highest in Africa, after Port Said in Egypt amid lost man-hours due to traffic chaos.
According to TomTom, a maker of navigation software, the average time spent on the distance was 26 minutes, translating to 94 hours lost, which was four hours more than in 2023.
Africa’s best city for traffic movement is Port Louis in Mauritius, where a 10-kilometre car ride takes an average of 15 minutes, which is nearly half the time spent in Nairobi.
Port Louis implemented a light rail transit system (metro system), which helped improve traffic speed. Ralf-Peter Schäfer, Vice President of Traffic at TomTom notes; “The combination of population and economic growth is putting significant strain on our transportation networks. Outdated infrastructure and inefficient road planning fail to keep pace with demand.”
Nairobi has in recent years witnessed an explosion of people and cars that overwhelmed the latest traffic upgrades, including the 27-kilometer Nairobi expressway and expanded Ngong Road.
This is exacerbated by a lack of proper design, including bus stops and upgrades to accommodate more people and vehicles, says think-tank Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (Kippra).
Nairobi has the most man-hours lost in traffic among African cities ranked by TomTom at 94 hours annually. Cape Town had 72 hours while Cairo lost 43 hours.
The Institute of Economic Affairs in 2021 found that Nairobi Metropolitan lost approximately Sh60 billion a day on traffic jams.
Analysts reckon that both the national and Nairobi county governments must seek fresh investments for highways and roads to bridge the yawning infrastructure gap in the city.
Kippra cites upgrades such as construction of missing links, improving major urban corridors and gradually shifting to mass transit systems such as Bus Rapid Transit and Nairobi Commuter Rail (NCR).
Studies show Mass Rapid Transit Systems could play a pivotal role in reducing traffic volume within Nairobi streets.
