Hundreds of travellers were on Monday stranded as a transport hitch hit various parts of the country following Sunday’s ban on night bus travel by the National Transport and Safety Authority.
Bus companies and urban businesses — the latter which rely heavily on the labour stranded upcountry after the year-ender festivities — were left counting heavy losses as the shock directive took effect.
In various towns across the country, travellers who had made advance bookings were forced to spend cold nights inside stationary buses. Others were forced to return home and wait for the rush to ebb. Parents and students rushing back to school for the new term, which begins today, were the most affected.
The NTSA, whose decision has been termed as a futile and needlessly punitive knee-jerk reaction, said the ban, which restricts long-distance passenger service vehicles to travel between 6am and 7pm, was in response to the rising number of road accidents at night.
SAFETY
On Monday, NTSA director-general Francis Meja defended the ban as “well thought-out despite the inconveniences it had caused travellers and bus companies”.
“The decision was arrived at after careful consideration and discussions for public good and safety,” Mr Meja said in a statement.
But passenger service operators criticised the ban as retrogressive and ill-advised. Matatu Welfare Association (MWA) chairman Dickson Mbugua said it was a poorly thought-out unilateral decision that has no place in the 21st century.
“We are surprised that the agency could stoop that low,” said Mr Mbugua. “We think this is a unilateral decision that has no board blessings. Many PSV owners are struggling to repay their loans after a year distorted by politics, which has been costly to the business community. And how will those preparing to go back to school or places of work cope?”
The ban caused a major transport hitch in Western Kenya as hundreds of passengers spent the second day in the cold at bus stations.
In Kisumu, the town’s main bus park, which is usually crowded, had fewer vehicles by midday as most operators left early in the morning to beat the evening deadline by NTSA. The same happened in Kakamega town.
HIGHER FARES
Following the shortage of PSV vehicles, passengers paid significantly higher fares for the few available vehicles. For the 350 kilometres between Kisumu and Nairobi, buses charged between Sh2,000 and Sh2,800, up from the usual Sh1,000 to Sh1,500. Those doing the 800 kilometres to Mombasa paid Sh3,500, up from an average of Sh2,000.
Mr Milton Otieno, a father of three students in Nairobi, said he was not sure whether their journey to Nairobi would take off as the bus scheduled to ferry them had not arrived at the Kisumu station by 2pm Monday.