The plan to phase out low-capacity public service vehicles (PSVs) is a good one, since it will lead to the decongestion of Nairobi city. I know the decision will be painful to those who have invested heavily in the sector, but we all have to agree it is time to sort out the city traffic jam menace once and for all.
Reliance on low-capacity PSVs, which include the ubiquitous 14-seater matatus, is not sustainable. In fact, they are the reason traffic gridlocks are experienced in the city.
It is counter-productive to allow 10 matatus to ferry 14 people each into the city centre, when all can comfortably fit in one bus. Kenyans are also paying steep prices in terms of fare for short distances in matatus, and this will be a thing of the past when we embrace train transport and first batch high-capacity commuter buses.
Other modern metropolises in developed countries in the west and even some in Africa have done this, and we have to follow suit. What the Ministry of Transport needs to do, however, is ensure the process is conducted in a humane manner, considering that most of those in the sector acquired their vehicles through loans. We cannot afford to be insensitive to the plight of matatu owners; there should be structured negotiations on how to withdraw the vehicles.
Mr Pkosing is the Pokot South MP and the chair of the National Assembly Transport Committee
