Matatu – the most representative symbol of Kenya’s transportation

Nairobi’s traffic jam is a nightmare.  If you get stuck, it’s better to accept your bad luck and lay back on your seat.  A 30-minute commuting suddenly changes into a 2-hour suffering.  The bad part of the traffic jam here is its unpredictability: no one knows which road is going to stop moving today at what time.  The worst time is the commuting hours in the morning (7-9am) and at night (6-8pm), but car horns fill streets almost all day.

One of the major causes for Nairobi’s heavy traffic is the lack of public transportation.  As there are no public buses or trains, many people commute with cars (TOYOTA is most popular).  Car ownership has increased dramatically in the past few years, and now households with more than 2 cars have become common in Nairobi.  But still, not all family members own a car, and there are quite a few households without any single car (According to the 2008-09 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, only 17% of the households in urban areas had a car.).  Thus Matatu, the most representative symbol of local transportation, becomes an essential part of life in Kenya.

Matatu is a privately owned bus, usually by high-ranking officials of the Kenya Police.  Owners lease vehicles to individuals, and individuals receive income based on the number of passengers they carried.  The payment system is designed in such a way that lessees have high incentives to increase passengers even by breaking the law.  For example, many Matatus stop at places other than bus stops.  Moreover, the fee is not stable, and drivers decide the price based on that day’s demand to maximize the profit.  The Matatu fee used to be stable when there was a public transportation.  However, as there is no longer any public transportation, drivers have higher bargaining power over the price than passengers.  Price increase on rainy days is a good example.

Although Matatu is owned by big men at the police most of the time, there is a huge conflict between police officers and Matatu drivers.  Officers stop and arrest quite a few drivers every day; for example, more than hundred Matatu drivers get arrested within an hour in the morning at an intersection near my office.  Drivers pay around Ksh 500-1000 (equivalent to earnings from 5-10 passengers) per arrest so that the police would let them go.  Of course Matatu drivers are to blame to some extent, as they do not follow traffic rules.  However, corruption of the police is a huge elephant in the room.  The money collected from Matatu drivers go directly into the pockets of police officers.  Frustration of Matatu drivers often culminates in strikes, just like yesterday (11^th July).

Matatu embodies Kenya’s social problems such as inequality, market failure, and corruption.  Those who use Matatu tend to be poor and socially marginalized, and the inequality is a critical problem in Kenya.  Market failure creates a huge negative externality (i.e. traffic jam and pollution), and government intervention may be necessary.  The police is said to be the most corrupt organization in Kenya, and people’s trust towards police officers is even lower than politicians.  Matatu – what an interesting thing to study.