Nairobi BRT project takes shape as Nema seeks public input

The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has issued an invitation to the general public to express their opinion on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The project is geared towards offering reliable, secure and comfortable system for city residents.

Nema has invited the public for feedback on an environmental and social impact assessment report for the proposed Clean BRT line 3 in Nairobi County in a public notice published in a local daily.

It had sought to revamp Nairobi’s chaotic public transport infrastructure to reduce congestion, but it remains a pipe dream given the snail’s pace progress of the project.

Nema filings show that the 12.4km route is located northeast of Nairobi and will be the first stage of BRT network that will serve the corridor of Line 3 also known as Chui Line.

BRT will start from Kenyatta National Hospital through Haile Selassie Avenue to the City centre’s Course Road to Ring Road, Ngara, Juja Road and terminate in Dandora.

Nema cites ten component bus running ways, stations, a depot, station-accessing infrastructure including pedestrian bridge, fare collection and validation systems, bus fleet, interchange stations and ride facilities, a BRT control room and a real-time passenger information system.

The European Investment Bank will fund the project to a tune of Sh37.5 billion.

The clean BRT Line 3 will boost the system by offering a green solution.

“The project will involve the detailed design and construction of the bus corridor as well as the construction of a bus depot, procurement and acquisition of zero-emission electric buses, construction of bus stops and associated monitoring, ticketing and management facilities,” the bank says in a report.

The Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (Namata) launched the system on February 1.

Like other services, Namata Director-General Francis Gitau blamed the delay on the Covid-19 pandemic that rocked the country and world in general.

Speaking to journalists at Ardhi House on February 10, Namata boss said, the BRT was 70 per cent done.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia told Parliament in 2019 that the government would spend Sh5.8 billion to build a lane for high-capacity buses on Thika Superhighway.

“The design infrastructure is going on under the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHa), which has estimated the cost to be Sh5.8 billion,” Macharia told the National Assembly’s Transport Committee.

A park-and-ride facility is being set up at Kasarani, where motorists heading to the city centre can leave their vehicles and use BRT buses for the remainder of the journey.

In 2020, Stecol Corporation, previously known as SinoHydro Tianjin Engineering Company Ltd, signed a memorandum of understanding to build the BRT system.

The project starts at the Kenyatta National Hospital terminal through to Ruiru Station, about 27km stretch. The dedicated BRT line is about 20.18km.

Gitau had earlier said that there will be 13 intermediate stations, but last week he noted that there will be 10 with 24 platforms (two-line transfer stations reserved for future lines).

Work on the designated BRT stations has unfortunately stalled at Garden City, Safari Park, Roysambu, Clayworks, Kahawa Barracks and Kenyatta University, respectively, with no activity going on for months.

The red barriers that had dotted the highway were eventually removed after  becoming a hazard to motorists on the busy highway.