Nairobi turns into a walking city after final trial run

On Wednesday, Nairobi turned into a walking city, with commuters having to walk to work after the final trial run at the Green Park terminus.

Kenyatta Avenue and City Hall Way were out of bounds for public service vehicles PSVs with commuters crossing the Uhuru Highway into the city centre.

The trial run affects Matatus operating from Nairobi West, Madaraka, Kibra, Kawangware, Dagoretti Satellite, Kilimani, Highrise Ngumo and Kikuyu. PSVs were not allowed to enter the Railways Bus terminus as a result.

A lack of last-mile buses and footbridges to connect residents to various places in the city centre was a setback for the sick, elderly, commuters with luggage and the disabled.

NMS transport and public works director Michael Ochieng said the test run would end on Sunday.

The new trial run comes after three previous failed test runs at the terminus, which was located at the former Lunar Park, last year.

In the next four days, we will be perfecting the test run to make sure that our anticipations are in line with what the vehicles are doing, passengers' demands and other traffic users like boda bodas and cart pushers, said Mr Ochieng.

He said that the test will continue until Sunday, June 26, 2022, when further communication will be made.

The terminus was originally scheduled to be commissioned on May 24, 2022, but was postponed indefinitely. Green Park can accommodate between 300 and 350 vehicles at any one time, processing about 1,000 PSVs per hour and up to 20,000 per day.