Speaking while receiving the interim report on transport and urban decongestion on Tuesday, the Governor indicated that this will ensure operators’ details are available and they can be easily traced within a short period/FILE
Speaking while receiving the interim report on transport and urban decongestion on Tuesday, the Governor indicated that this will ensure operators’ details are available and they can be easily traced within a short period.
“We do not even know how many taxis we have within Nairobi. There are people who come with their vehicles into town in the morning and convert them to taxis. Registration of taxis will obviously ensure that we know who is operating them; we will have a record of where they are, who owns them and even who they are carrying. We will insist that taxis have radios and we will insist that they have meters,” he said.
He further pointed out that other than reducing congestion within the city, the initiative will ensure that only registered taxis are operational and that a fee will be charged for operators outside Nairobi.
“Taxis coming from outside Nairobi will be charged a fee to be able to access Nairobi so I am hopeful and aware that these are some of the recommendations in this report and I would like them to be implemented as fast as possible,” he said.
“We have transport rules and regulations that will manage our taxis system because probably Nairobi is the only city in the world where taxis are not regulated. I have already asked my team to create regulations for taxis within the next six months. They must also have a metered system so that they can have predictability. This registration will go a long way to ensure that crime is reduced and safety is increased. It is for the safety of Nairobi residents and even people who run them to comply with this,” the Governor stated.
A number of taxi operators welcomed the move and told Capital FM News that other than increase their revenue base, it will bring order to the sector.
“Most of us pay our dues at City Hall and someone else who is operating privately is making a lot of profit at our expense and we are the ones who suffer so I support this move to register all taxis,” David Kimani, an operator based on Standard Street said.
“All taxis should be registered since not everyone is good. One can commit a crime and they will not be identified even if they have done something bad but this will reduce that,” Harvey Mwangi, his colleague stated.
“When the matatus were not registered and did not have the yellow line, there were a lot of pickpockets but with the introduction of the Michuki rules, this reduced drastically and so the same also applies especially with regard to taxi operations.”
