Those who work and do business in Nairobi’s city centre know about the chaotic boda boda transport system.
The riders operate in total disregard for traffic rules. They even ride on the newly built pedestrian walkways. That calls for Nairobi City County Governor Johnson Sakaja to, as a matter of urgency, organise this vital sector.
Both boda boda and matatus should have passenger pick-up and drop-off points, preferably outside the CBD. We can pilot with the boda bodas four such points put up in the four corners of the CBD—which matatus have, for a long time, resisted.
Looking critically at boda bodas and tuktuk operations in the city, one wonders why they should not have saccos, with clear colour codes for each zone. I know that may look like political ‘suicide’ for the city politicians but we can learn from Kigali, Rwanda. Our city shouldn’t be a transport menace like what happens in most Indian cities with tuktuks.
Nairobi needs a well-planned transport system. The boda boda confusion, uncollected garbage, lack of adequate water and noisy unruly matatus makes one wonder why the county government cannot bring law and order into the capital city.
The capital city’s twin boda boda-matatu transport headache urgently requires reorganisation. When we had Kenya Bus Services some years back, it operated on a schedule and kept time—something most city residents remember with nostalgia. It can be applied to matatu, boda boda…
