Abstract
In Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, streets are regularly gridlocked. While it is clear that roads are congested at peak hours, it is not known which commuters are experiencing that congestion or what their commute times actually are. Even less is known about commuting patterns in other Kenyan cities. This paper contributes new evidence on commuting from a survey of 14,580 households, conducted in 15 Kenyan cities in 2013. Walking and matatus—privately-operated paratransit—account for 89% of all adult commuting in urban Kenya. As cities increase in size, the proportion relying on walking falls and matatu use increases. Within a city, commuters with higher income and education, and those living further from the city center, are more likely to use matatus rather than walk. Commute times are surprisingly short. In smaller Kenyan cities the median commute time is just 20 min. In Nairobi, the median commute time is 30 min, and only 5% of those surveyed reported commuting an hour or longer. These data paint a remarkably sustainable picture of urban travel patterns in Kenya. As incomes, education levels, and demand for motorized travel rise, the challenge will be to expand and improve the system while maintaining its sustainability.
Highlights
News reports as well as some studies suggest that commuting in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi is a nightmare
What exactly is the share of walking and matatu use in Nairobi? How different is the modal split in smaller cities in Kenya? What factors influence modal choice, especially the decision to opt for environmentally friendly modes such as walking, biking or public transport? This paper aims to address these questions and fill some of the important gaps in our understanding of travel demand in urban Kenya
The remaining 10 cities included in the 2013 survey are smaller in population, but similar to Nakuru, Eldoret, and Kisumu in terms of education and employment levels, as well as poverty levels
Summary
News reports as well as some studies suggest that commuting in Kenya’s capital city of Nairobi is a nightmare. It does so by presenting analysis of data from a rare and in-depth survey of 14,580 urban households in 15 cities, conducted in 2013 under the aegis of the World Bank. We use multivariate analyses to shed light on the key factors that influence travel demand—that is, whether urban Kenyans commute and the modes they use—and discuss how these differ between cities This analysis suggests that income, education level, and distance from the city center are associated with a higher likelihood of matatu commuting. This paper continues by reviewing prior evidence on the experience of commuting in urban Africa generally and in Nairobi, Kenya It proceeds to present findings on motorized transport access, commute modes, commute times, and the matatu market in urban Kenya from the 2013 World Bank survey data. We conclude with an integrative discussion of these findings, what they suggest for policy, and directions for future research
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