Kenya is to develop new mass rapid transport systems to reduce traffic congestion in Nairobi and other major cities and to improve the country’s regional competitiveness.
The National Urban Transport Improvement Project (NUTRIP), which has received approval from the World Bank, will help to expand the capacity of Uhuru highway, which bisects Nairobi’s central business district, and to initiate rapid bus transit and commuter rail systems.
The World Bank will invest $300 million in the project, while Kenya’s government will contribute $113 million.
The major components of the project include the expansion and upgrading of highway, service, and access roads from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport through Nairobi to Rironi on the Northern Corridor transport system. It will also finance the construction of bypasses in Kisumu in western Kenya and Meru in the east.
The project will also fund the building and operation of new rapid bus and rail transport systems to increase the volume and speed of passenger and freight services around the country’s urban areas.
A National Metropolitan Transport Authority will be established to coordinate and regulate public transport. The authority will recommend policies on pricing and investments, financing equipment and related traffic management systems.
Commenting on the project, Johannes Zutt, World Bank country director for Kenya, said: “By helping to ease traffic congestion and develop a modern commuter system, this project will enable Nairobi to remain a great city in which to live and to do business. Developing countries like Colombia, Mexico and Nigeria have embraced mass public transit systems as they transitioned to middle-income status, and it is now time for Kenya to follow their example.”
Josphat Sasia, the project’s task team leader, added: “With this project, the process of reforming the urban transport has just begun, and its ultimate success will require widespread community support. Developing public transport systems that move large numbers of commuters will relieve the worsening traffic congestion, and improve the local business climate.”
The project will be implemented by agencies working for the Ministries of Roads and Transport, including the Kenya National Highways Authority, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority and the Kenya Railways Corporation.
The World Bank and other development partners such as the African Development Bank, the European Union, Japan and China, are helping Kenya to modernise its transport system and to remove barriers to a more dynamic business climate in Kenya and the East African region as a whole.
