Skip to main content

Nairobi set to get metropolitan transport authority

The Governors of Kajiado, Kiambu, Nairobi and Muranga counties in Kenya have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to pave the way for the formation of a Nairobi Metropolitan Transport Authority.
October 23, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

The Governors of Kajiado, Kiambu, Nairobi and Muranga counties in Kenya have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to pave the way for the formation of a Nairobi Metropolitan Transport Authority.

The project is supported by the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Union, Japan and China, which are helping the country to modernise its transport system and remove barriers to a more dynamic business climate in Kenya and the wider East African region.

The authority will oversee the implementation of the mass rapid transit system within the city and its surroundings and will recommend policies on pricing and investments, financing equipment and related traffic management systems.

The project includes the expansion and upgrading of highways, service and access roads from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport through Nairobi to Rironi on the Northern Corridor transport system.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport Michael Kamau said if implemented, it will be the lasting solution to the perennial congestion of the main roads in Nairobi. He said development partners, including the World Bank, had already promised to provide funds for four major corridors out of the five that are set to be improved.

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.

Related Content

  • New York to pilot cordon-based congestion charging
    March 16, 2012
    From 2009, if all goes to plan, New York will run a three-year cordon-based congestion charging pilot - the first in the US. Upon accession, US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters signalled her intention to continue her predecessor Norman Mineta's initiative to specifically target road congestion. And, with initiatives such as the US Department of Transportation's (USDOT's) Urban Partnership Program actively promoting tolling as a part of a compound solution to the problem, the way was opened for the co
  • ‘Need for sustainable transportation infrastructure drives the ITS market’
    October 30, 2012
    According to a new report by Global Industry Analysts (GIA), the global Intelligent Transportation Systems market is projected to reach US$22.7 billion by the year 2018, driven primarily by the need to enhance road safety by efficiently managing traffic, enforcing speed limits and easing traffic congestion. Rising demand from developing nations to incorporate ITS solutions also bodes well for the future of the market. The report provides a comprehensive review of trends, product developments, mergers, acqu
  • Road user charging potential solution to transportation problems
    December 14, 2012
    A number of new and highly significant open road tolling schemes have just been launched or are soon to ‘go live’. Systems of road user charging are flexing their muscles as the means to solve politically sensitive transportation problems, reports Jon Masters. Gothenburg, January 2013, will be the time and place for the launch of the next city congestion charging scheme in Europe. In a separate development, Los Angeles County’s tolled Metro ExpressLanes began operating in November 2012 – the latest in a ser
  • Harmonisation of Europe's ITS deployment still unbalanced
    January 31, 2012
    Dean Herenda, Chairman of the EasyWay project, talks about the progress made and the progress still to be made in harmonising ITS deployment across the European Union. "The deployment and use of ITS in road transport across Europe was and still is unbalanced" Although Europe can be proud of being home to some of the world's most advanced ITS solutions, the relative disparities between Member States of the European Union (EU) in terms of the extent and technological sophistication of deployments actually sta