It’s frustrating that almost none of Nairobi’s traffic problems are irresolvable, and so many are due to poor planning or implementation.
Responsibility ultimately comes down to policy failures at the county and national levels.
As it stands, senior government at all levels has resorted to self-preservation − using sirens and irate police officers to bully their way through the jams − rather than dealing with the traffic itself.
In 2019, the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (NAMATA) revealed that traffic congestion in Nairobi city costs Kenya approximately USD 1 billion a year.
In the report, Nairobi was ranked as the world’s 4th most congested city hosting more than 3 million people and with an average travel time of 57 minutes.
A different study by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), studies showed that Kenya loses over KES 50 million daily in traffic jams.
An amount that results in KES 18.25 billion loss annually.