(Bloomberg) -- Cars and minibuses stuck in grinding traffic cause many a missed meeting in Kenya's capital, potentially costing East Africa's largest economy almost $1 billion a year in lost productivity.
That's according to the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, which ranked Nairobi as the world's fourth most congested city. In a new report, it put the average travel time in the city -- home to 3.2 million people -- at 57 minutes, and recommended a Bus Rapid Transit System for five key routes to stem the gridlock.
“Lack of a scheduled public transport system and an elaborate non-motorized transport network forces people to use personal vehicles over short distances, whereas they would have otherwise walked, cycled or used public transport,” according to the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority.
KENYA INSIGHT: Nairobi Slows as Urbanization Engine Stutters
What is the way out of the gridlock? The agency intends to create exclusive lanes for scheduled commuter transport to cut travel time to and from the central business district of Nairobi, once referred to as the city in the sun.
To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Ombok in Nairobi at eombok@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, Michael Gunn
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