Public Transport in Nairobi

Most Kenyans cannot afford to own a vehicle so they rely on the “public” (privately owned) transit system which consists of Matatu’s (14 passenger vans) and larger buses which go between the towns and the cities.

The Matatu drivers are notorious for following their own set of rules on the road; essentially, there are no rules. The more passengers they can pick up, the more money they make. They are supposed to be limited to 14 passengers but we have seen vans with 24 people in them. Of course, the faster they travel the more people they pick up and drop off (which increases their profit). These drivers will make any two lane road into four lanes, drive on the shoulder of the road or on a sidewalk. We have even seen them drive the wrong way on a divided road. The owners paint their vans and some are works of art with expressions like “God With Us”, “Jehovah Provider”, and Bible verses written in Swahili. Some vans are in really bad shape because they have run into other vehicles or scraped cars trying to get by.
Because these vans and buses go everywhere in the country they are used to transport everything from people to beds, to wheelbarrows and sofas. We have seen motorcycles on top of buses, huge stacks of bananas...... you name it and they will put it on the top and drive hundreds of kilometres with these very precarious loads. It’s really quite amazing.

Are they safe? Probably not but the local people do not have a choice. The joke here is that these van drivers will get into heaven before most pastors because they cause more people to pray!