Shortage of funds delay BRT roll out

Lack of funds threatens the piloting of the Bus Rapid Transit in the city.

Traffic snarl-ups in Nairobi cost the country Sh2 billion annually. To end this, the government mooted the plans to introduce special trains that will be complemented by the BRT buses.

Negotiations are ongoing to procure 11 diesel trains from Spain. According to Transport CS James Macharia, the city will require at least 900 BRT buses.

The first batch of 64 BRT buses to be used for the pilot scheme was to be shipped from South Africa. No bus has arrived in the country yet.

The piloting was supposed to be rolled out between last month and December.

This is yet to happen, and apart from red markings on a lane along Thika Superhighway, there is nothing else on the ground to show that something is in the offing.

During an interview with the Star, Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (Namata) CEO Francis Gitau said on Monday shortage of funds remains the biggest problem in the implementation of the project.

Gitau said the authority had requested for Sh1.2 billion for infrastructure and Sh800 million for buses.

On Wednesday, Gitau said that Treasury allocated Namata Sh500 million this financial year. The cash is yet to be utilised, he said.

“We are finalising the designs of the pilot before going into procurement,” he said.

Gitau said the authority will be seeking more funds if what it has been given is not enough.

The Institute of Transportation and Development Policy had in 2018 said the whole BRT project would need Sh100 billion to be fully operational.

Treasury, in its supplementary budget released in May, indicated that it had allocated Sh5.53 billion to be used in the construction of special lanes for high-capacity buses.

Namata was established through an executive order by President Uhuru Kenyatta on February 9, 2017, under the provisions of the State Corporations Act.

It covers Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, Machakos and Murang’a counties.

Gitau said BRT is meant to usher in a reliable mode of commuter transport to decongest the CBD, reduce travel time as well as reduce air pollution.

The plan is to construct five stations that will be used for picking and dropping passengers.

Five BRT corridors were to be launched to decongest Nairobi roads. In addition, special lanes are to be constructed along roads in the city centre such as Haile Selassie Avenue, Moi Avenue, Kenyatta Avenue and University Way, according to the agency’s designs.

Corridors

All the corridors are to be marked with red lines.

Line 1 is to run from James Gichuru Road/Waiyaki Way to JKIA, a distance of 20km.

Line 2, which is 31km long, will start from Lang’ata Road to Ngong Road, Juja Road, Komarock Road up to Ruiru.

It will have major stops in Dandora, Kariobangi and 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 be on Outering Road.

According to the Namata CEO, the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha) owns about 20 acres that will be utilised to ensure an efficient BRT programme.

At their optimum capacity, the corridors are expected to hold up to 950 high capacity buses, reducing travel time and cost by up to 70 per cent. At the moment, nearly all the corridors have not been secured.  Some roads will also have to be expanded. They include Juja Road.

Gitau said once the infrastructure is complete, the second phase will be securing high capacity buses. “We do not want to bring the buses here and park them, he said.  The plan is to source 32 complete buses from South Africa and another 32 chassis to be deployed on the BRT corridors.

On Thika Road, where the red line marking has already been done, passengers will be picked in areas including Kasarani, Kenyatta University and USIU since they have footbridges.

“The bridges will be configured to adapt them to proper trafficking and pedestrians,” the Namata boss said.

There was also a plan to construct a major BRT station at Clay Works along Thika Road.

Two weeks ago, CS Macharia while appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Transport, said the government is planning to spend Sh5.8 billion to construct a lane for high-capacity buses along Thika Road.

He said the design will comprise a station, four footbridges, a park and ride facility. Kenha is overseeing the project.

Once the operations start, each bus will be carrying 160 passengers. A system to collect fare is also being developed. 

And to address the concerns of the matatu operators that they are likely going to be pushed out of business, the government is considering to have them continue with their business normally.

Transport contract

Operators planning to play a role under BRT will be required to form a bus operating company for the government to get into a transport contract with them. The government will ensure that standards are adhered to.

Speaking to the Star on Thursday, Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai said that BRT   is meant to complement PSVs,not to replace them.

He said its success will depend on the planning.  “This being a huge investment, there is a need to engage all the stakeholders for it to be successful,” he said.

He said the planning team, which he is part of, is borrowing a lot from other jurisdictions.

In 2016, Dar became the first city in East Africa to launch a BRT system, which has helped ease public transport.

Dar completed the first phase of the 21km rapid transit system, which has five terminals, 27 stations, seven feeders and three connector stations. About 140 buses operate daily on the special lanes.