Nairobi bus rapid route: A Chinese firm has bagged a multi billion contract to construct the Nairobi bus rapid route. Stecol Corporation won the deal to start construction of special lanes for high-capacity buses through the Nairobi city centre and Thika highway next month.
According to a report that appeared in the Business Daily on Tuesday, the Chinese firm bagged the contract last week. The report says that the mega project will comprise more than 100 buses operating on dedicated lanes on the Thika highway through the Nairobi City Centre to the Kenyatta National Hospital (KHN) area.
The first phase will cover the corridor from Clayworks to Haile Selassie and then to Kenyatta National Hospital. With construction works set to kick off next month, this phase will be expected to be concluded within eight months.
“The Chinese firm will begin by demarcating sections of Thika highway to be remodeled to accommodate support facilities such as of boarding stations and footbridges. A park-and- ride facility is planned for construction at Kasarani to allow commuters heading to the city centre to leave their vehicles and transfer to a mass transport bus for the remainder of the journey. The existing footbridges on the busy highway will guide the placement of the initial stations for the BRT system,” the report said.
The project will also dedicate the two innermost lanes of the highway to special high-capacity buses and erecting boarding ramps to ease access to the buses. The buses will be run by private operators but regulated by the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (NaMATA).
Each of the 100 buses that will operate along the route will have a capacity of about 160 passengers who will use electronic cards for payment at the stations also to be fitted with Wi-Fi and coffee shops.