Influence of Transport Sector Reforms on Performance of Public Transport Sector, A Case Study of Nairobi City County

Abstract

For many years, the transport industry in Kenya was plagued by violations of human rights and traffic rules. This resulted in constant complaints from commuters, fatal accidents, and serious injuries. In a bid to regulate the sector, the Government introduced the Michuki rules (via Legal Notice No. 161 of 2003). These were a broad range of reforms that sought to improve road safety and discipline in the sector. As a way of establishing the effectiveness of these measures, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of three transport sector reforms on the performance of the public transport sector. The research design was a cross-sectional descriptive survey design. The target population, who were the primary respondents, were the commuters who used matatus. Key informants were drawn from savings and credit cooperative organization management. The sample size was 385 respondents who were selected using a simple random sampling method. The research instruments were a semi-structured questionnaire and a key informant interview guide. Data analysis entailed descriptive statistics. The influence of matatu SACCOs had the highest level of influence on safety and discipline. The influence of Michuki rules had the second highest level of influence on safety and discipline. Finally, the effects of the proposed phasing out of the 14-seater matatus had the lowest level of influence on safety and discipline. Based on the findings, the study recommended further enforcing and entrenching the role of SACCOs, and the Michuki rules to increase safety and discipline in the matatu transport industry in Nairobi City County.