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Kenya: Parking Bay Targets Traffic Jam Weary Motorists
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
30 June 2008
Posted to the web 1 July 2008
Millicent Kamau
A private company will today pioneer an innovative concept that might just turn out to be a lasting solution to the traffic snarl ups that dog most of the roads leading to Nairobi.
Kool Travels Limited is offering motorists parking for their cars at the Belle Vue Cinema grounds at Sh100 per day and providing them with a dedicated shuttle service to the City Centre for a fee.
The new parking lot has been licensed by the City Council of Nairobi and starts operations today. It will operate between 6.00 am and 6.30pm.
If successful, the initiative on Mombasa Road will be replicated on major routes to the city, providing an answer to the problem of land that policy makers have been grappling with in their efforts to decongest the city of traffic.
In policy framework, creation of parking bays for motorists away from the city and providing an efficient public service to the City Centre has been the main feature in addressing traffic jams.
Lack of land for the parking lots has been a key challenge, but the initiative by Kool Travels of utilising underemployed utilities - cinemas and sports stadia - along the main routes promises to be an eye opener.
"Our aim is to reduce traffic around the city. This can only be done by putting to use idle land," said Mr Gilbert Maina, the managing director of Kool Travels, an air services firm that is now venturing into road transport.
Kool Travels is leasing the 1,000 car capacity Belle Vue parking lot from Uni-Drive In Theatres after the leisure facility closed earlier in the year due to lack of customers.
"Following years of unsustainable business we decided to close down the drive-in this year. It got to a point where we would have only two customers in a week," said Mr Nilesh Pate,l a manager at Uni-Drive In Theatres.
Mr Patel said that during the 1970s and the late 80s, business at the drive- in was booming and the drive inn would be fully occupied from Monday to Sunday.
However things took a different turn in the early 90s, when technology started creeping in and videos plus DVDs found their way into the Kenyan market.
"When videos and DVDs started coming into the market our business shifted from the weekly schedule to weekends only," said Patel.
Kool Travels has set aside Sh3 million towards renovating the new parking lot, according to Mr Maina. It is estimated that 30 jobs will be created at the bay.
Mr Maina said they would also provide a shuttle service for motorists who leave their cars at Belle Vue at a one way fare of Sh30 to the city centre.
The service will, however, be available to other commuters.
"We have partnered with City Hoppa to provide the shuttle services," said Mr Maina.
"The buses will only operate to the CBD where the motorists will be dropped and picked after every one hour."
Ideally this means that, everyday a motorist parking at Belle-Vue will spend Sh160 on parking and commuting to the CBD everyday. To this would be added the fuel consumed in driving the car to and from Belle Vue.
For instance, a motorist driving from Nyayo Estate Embakasi to and from the CBD spends about Sh300 on fuel everyday before purchasing a City Council parking ticket at Sh70 a day.
Fuel savings
However with the new parking lot, a motorist from Nyayo Estate Embakasi will spend Sh100 on fuel from the estate to Belle-Vue and back. So in total, the motorist would spend Sh260 everyday to and from the CBD - a substantial reduction in fuel spending.
Mr Maina says the company is looking at reducing by 10 per cent the traffic on Mombasa Road.
"Fifty 34 seater buses will hold 1,700 passengers meaning traffic will reduce since the buses are a replacement for the 1,000 vehicles," said Maina.
Through the same concept, the Kool Travels MD revealed that they are currently looking into reducing traffic along Thika Road, Ngong Road and Langata Road.
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On Thika Road they are still in talks with the Government to put in use the parking lot at Moi Sport Centre Kasarani, which has a capacity of 5,000 cars.
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