NMS to kick matatus out of Nairobi CBD in plans to ease traffic

Matatus will no longer be allowed to access the Central Business District from November as the Nairobi Metropolitan Services moves to de-congest the city.



Appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Administration and National Security, NMS Director General Mohammed Badi said plans to de-congest the city were being finalised and will be launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta in November.



He told the committee that NMS has been working with the National Transport and Safety Authority, adding that bus stations have been built in Ngara and Parklands, where all matatus coming from Thika will offload passengers.



Matatus coming from Machakos and Lang’ata will have a stage at the Railway Golf Club where the Kenya National Highways Authority will build an express way.



General Badi added that KenHA had already acquired the land and NMS is now just working with the authority to set up the terminus.



He said NMS had initially set its eyes on the land where the Neno Evangelism Centre is built but a court halted the decision forcing it to look for an alternative location.



General Badi said NMS is also working with Kenya Railways to ensure that all their lines are operational.



To ease traffic on Haile Selassie Avenue through to Jogoo Road, Kenha will build an expressway from the Kenya Planters Cooperative Union building that will go straight to Jogoo road.



General Badi revealed that much-awaited bus rapid transit (BRT) system will also be operational by the end of this month and will be used to transport passengers from the train stations to their various destinations.



The buses ordered from South Africa have to conform to the KS-372 body-building standards developed by the Kenya Bureau of Standards.



In January, Transport cabinet secretary James Macharia announced that the first batch of KSh1.6 billion high-capacity buses will arrive from South Africa in a matter of weeks.



The BRT corridors are to be marked by red lines. Line 1 is to run from James Gichuru Road/Waiyaki Way to JKIA, a distance of 20kms.



Line 2, which is 31kms long, will run from Lang’ata Road to Ngong Road, Juja Road, Komarock Road to Ruiru. It will have major stops at Dandora, Kariobangi and near Gikomba market.



Line 3 will run from Githurai through Thika Road to Moi Avenue in the CBD and terminate at Kenyatta National Hospital. Line 4 will cover 14km from T-Mall to Jogoo Road while Line 5 will cover Outering Road.



Should the NMS plans pull through, General Badi would have succeeded where both current Nairobi governor Mike Sonko and his predecessor – Evans Kidero – failed.