City Hall bans Isuzu buses from routes over design queries
Oct. 19, 2018, 12:15 am
By JULIUS OTIENO @juliusotieno04
The buses launched by Isuzu East Africa for the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system in Nairobi. /COURTESY
The buses launched by Isuzu East Africa for the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system in Nairobi. /COURTESY
Isuzu East Africa yesterday suffered a blow after City Hall banned its two-high capacity buses from city routes over design concerns.
The county government yesterday said the buses do not meet the specifications set out by the Ministry of Transport and the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority.
“We will not allow them on our roads because if we do, then other people will come with their own buses as long as they are high capacity,” Transport executive Mohamed Dagane said.
Vehicle manufacturers are jostling for a share of high capacity buses after it emerged that the government is working to introduce Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system to revamp public transport and reduce the congestion.
Read: Isuzu unveils BRT buses, matatu operators welcome move
Dagane said the team had agreed on specific features which were supposed to be gazetted by the Kenya Bureau of standards.
The buses are supposed to have flat floors without stairs on the doors, the aisle should be wider to allow two or three people to pass at ago.
“There was also specific size of the door and the number of doors that such buses should have because when we talk of BRT, we are taking about the capacity, efficiency and time,” he said.
Already a lane has been dedicated for the buses on Thika Superhighway awaiting arrival of 100 high capacity buses that the government is planning to import.
The Isuzu buses have a speed limit of 60 kph and can ferry between 62 and 100 passengers at a go. The firm said the buses are locally assembled and specifically designed for Kenya’s BRT system.
“We have to be careful with what we allow on our roads because we might end up in the same trouble like the one we are in,” Dagane told the Star yesterday.
Read: State introduces dedicated lane for PSV buses plying Thika Road
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