Looking to the future..

The spirit of innovation that prompted the first “pirate-taxis” matatus did not end there, but persists in many efforts to better the industry today.  A team of students from the University of Nairobi set out in 2015 to create the first comprehensive map of matatu routes in order to make access to buses easier for commuters— proving that the congested bus terminals around Nairobi’s central business district need not remain difficult to navigate. 

Recent government policies in the past decade have brought into question the role of matatus in Kenya’s future as plans like “Kenya Vision 2030” and “Nairobi Metro 2030” introduced by President Kibaki in June 2008. These two visions aim to “build a globally competitive and prosperous country with a high quality of life by 2030” [Breur 2] “with a wide range of jobs, transport options and communication infrastructure” [United Nations]. They have achieved a certain amount of regulation over matatus, as all matatu owners were mandated  by law to register their vehicles with a Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCO) by February 2011 [Ngirachu]. Just a year earlier in 2010, the transport licensing board declared that one of its goals were to “see all 14 seaters phased out to pave way for bus companies operated by the saccos” [KTV News Kenya].

Kenya Vision 2030 has succeeded in funding a few select new transport methods such as the Standard Gauge Railways from Nairobi to Naivasha, cooperating with foreign investors like McKinsey in a public-private partnership similar to the one the NCC struck with the KBS in the 1950s. Moreover a new bus system named the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is being pushed forwards into urban Kenya’s transportation market by Nairobi Metro 2030 [Breuer 1] without having addressed the uncertain futures of matatu operators. The matatu industry continues to play a vital role in providing affordable and accessible transport to around 70% of Nairobi, helping people and goods get to where they need to be [Breuer 1]. It remains still an important labor market where many are employed and support their families by. Read more on the future of government action in the matatu industry as covered by journalist Celia Breuer in “Blind to the Matatus” and Joshua Nole in “The Future of Nairobi’s Informal Transit.”