On Tuesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Nairobi Commuter Railway (Read story here).
Three trains every morning and evening to Embakasi, Ruiru and Kikuyu are expected to carry up to 230,000 passengers daily once the NCR is in full swing.
This development is long overdue. A capital city needs an advanced public transport system.
Presently Nairobi relies on around 18,000 matatus (out of 700,000 vehicles in the city) to transport workers to and fro. The matatu system is much maligned but is essentially efficient. It should not be dropped or replaced.
But Nairobi needs more than matatus and a few commuter trains. It needs a public transport system that is easier and more cost-effective than driving in a car.
Ultimately Nairobi will need an underground rail system but that would be too expensive today. The cheapest and most effective alternative is to have dedicated bus lanes on the main highways. A bus lane was marked on the Thika Highway but was never activated. If affordable comfortable buses travel without stopping from Thika to CBD, people will stop using their cars.
Bus lanes are the logical next addition to the Nairobi Commuter Railway.
Quote of the day: "It's always convenient for certain people to heap accusations on Israel."
Yasser Arafat
The Palestinian leader died on November 11, 2004
