Nairobi, a city that swells to almost 6 million people during the day, is choking with traffic. Most solutions offered are quick fixes—the majority just as quickly withdrawn. The magic of Thika Superhighway didn’t last long, and The Expressway is known to get congested with traffic. As experts continue to debate long-term options, I’d like to share my two cents on decongesting Nairobi.
In a city where 83% of people walk to work, about 75% of the 100,000 motor vehicles (excluding cycles) registered annually remain, and with a growing image conscious middle class, the answer may be simple: make walking cool.
By-pass the middleman and focus on the end-user
Now then. For decades, banks had stubbornly positioned themselves as the bastion of access to the customer. So entrenched were they, that they frustrated any attempts to access the customer that did not benefit them. Their stranglehold was not intended to benefit the customer either-just to enrich the bank. Fighting banks was a losing battle.
Until M-PESA.
What happened? Not surprisingly, banks fought it tooth and nail, but they had nothing to grasp on to. You see, their infrastructure was not needed. M-PESA (Safaricom) went straight to the customer by creating its own distribution network, bypassing banks.
Cartels, matatus and private car owners are all forms of middlemen. They are too entrenched in their personal interests to see a solution that does not immediately benefit them. By-pass them. How? That’s next.
Make and sell walking as ‘cool’
Now, jogging and ‘gyming’ are driven both by the desire to be ‘cool’ and to keep fit. The electronic health measuring gizmos add to the coolness. ‘Coolness’ is a powerful motivator especially among the growing middle class.
Unfortunately, walking on our roads is not ‘cool’. It doesn’t help that the roads are not paved; and those that are, find pedestrians regularly ducking to avoid the horn-blaring, boda-bodas and matatus that use the pavement to avoid traffic!
As for the ant-like Ubers, bolting hither and thither, they’re just adding to the traffic.
Sweat and dust- decongesting Nairobi
And then there is the sweat and dust from the sweltering heat, not to mention the fear of being mugged. With these downsides, I think the alternative is a cool-looking footbridge. Not the eye-sore Muthurwa kind, no.
I’m thinking elevated elongated tunnels; with FM radio blaring, Wi-Fi, temperature regulation, well lit, security guaranteed, and hawker-free. The kind you would get at an airport and anyone would be happy to walk in. And with “Have you done your 10000 steps today?”encouragement positioned in strategic places. But to work the walkway would not be built by the government.
Private Public Partnerships (PPPs)
PPPs have bad rap in Kenya. Yeah, I know, Adani comes to mind. Yet, (depoliticised) PPPs are a development lifestyle in growing economies. So, who will build the elevated walk-ways? Yes, private firms.
How? Assign the build and maintain role of such a tunnel to a private entity, like what was done with the roundabout beautification project, complete with the appropriate incentives – rebated advertising licences, for instance.
Imagine the CBD- Westlands, say, Safaricom entombed and elevated tunnel, complete with a business centre in it. Or, grabbing a cold coke along the Coca-Cola tunnel running from CBD to Hurlingham. Imagine, the EABL CBD-Nyayo Stadium/Muthaiga, or Co-op Bank CBD-City Stadium elevated tunnel shaped walkways.
Now picture yourself glancing at your Apple phone, Strava, Google Fit, or Garmin to track your steps and calories burned, as you stroll through the air-conditioned elevated tunnel on your way to a meeting in Westlands or heading home to Ngong.
It may take longer to walk than to drive (or take a matatu), but factor in gridlocked traffic, driving fatigue, air pollution, man-hours lost, rainy days, rising fuel costs, declining fitness levels, and the daily chaos of matatus—and the picture changes. In a climate change–conscious world, those extra steps aren’t just good for you; they’re a small but meaningful contribution to easing the planet’s burden too.
Outcome of decongesting Nairobi
At the end of the day, with this practical and sustainable ‘walking’ alternative in place, Nairobi can breathe again. Meanwhile, alternative infrastructure for mass transportation can be laid down unhurriedly.
By this time, with dwindling passenger numbers, the middlemen (just like the banks) will be dancing to the tune of the new Piper.
What do you think?
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