A Chinese firm has landed a tender worth 5.6 Billion shillings to construct bus lanes in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
The projects dubbed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is aimed at decongesting the CBD by setting up special lanes for the incoming higher capacity buses.
Construction is scheduled to kick off in August 2020 following the consensus of the parties involved in early July.
“We signed the contract in the last weeks of Ju;ly 2020 and the contractor is mobilizing to commence in August…”Housing and Urban Development PS Charles Hinga said.
The lanes will run from the Clayworks area of Thika Superhighway through Haile Selassie Avenue in the CBD all the way to Kenyatta National Hospital.
More than 100 buses are expected to utilize the special lanes upon completion that will see the roads remodeled.
The buses’ pickup and drop off stations will be placed beside the footbridges along the highway.
The buses will each carry up to 160 passengers who will use smart cards to pay their fare.
The vessels also come along with free WiFi services.
Although the National Metropolitan Authority will regulate the operations of these buses, they will be fully managed and controlled by private investors.