Mass public transport plan for city overdue

Traffic congestion is a big challenge facing Nairobi and other towns. The poor traffic flow is a major headache for the city county government.

The latest attempt to decongest the city is the installation of modern traffic lights and cameras, which appear to have had little or no impact, so far.

The deploying of traffic marshals in the city centre is clearly a knee-jerk reaction and a duplication of the duties of traffic police. There have been master plans and other efforts in the past to streamline traffic and modernise the city, but these have either been abandoned or simply run out of stem.

The best chance for the capital city is the implementation of a mass transit system. This ambitious project expected to cost some Sh89 billion contains long-term measures to cure some of the problems that should have been taken care of a long time ago.

GOVERNORS ENDORSE

Perhaps the most significant development is getting the governors of Nairobi and the four neighbouring counties of Machakos, Kiambu, Kajiado, and Murang’a to endorse the project.

One Tuesday, the leaders agreed to participate in a meeting to be convened by Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet secretary Michael Kamau. Any developments in Nairobi directly affect its neighbours.

A new authority is to be set up to recruit experts to work on the project. The leaders will be encouraged to ensure that key donors are supportive of the venture.

The next challenge is to ensure that everything is done transparently, especially the bidding and execution. This is public money and it must be put to the best use possible.

Most importantly, the success should be replicated by encouraging neighbouring counties to pool resources for large infrastructural projects.