Kenya has a good road network connecting major cities and towns in the country. Road transportation handles nearly 70 per cent of freight traffic.
The Government of Kenya has improved infrastructure for motorised and non-motorised vehicles and encouraged people in rural areas to form cooperative societies to sell their produce and buy inputs at central markets.
The Government has also enforced axle load regulations and restructured other transport systems. Plans are underway to explore privatization and modernisation of weighbridges and introduction of weigh-in-motion facilities.
The Government has also encouraged the use of rail transport to reduce traffic and boost the economy, as well as extend rail services across borders.
It is keen to ensure that railway operations are improved through adequate financing for development and maintenance.
The Government will ensure that the public transport policy is linked to economic, budget and fiscal, competition, urban and land-use, urban transport, social, education and research policies. It will develop and update an Integrated Transport Master Plan (ITMP) covering transport modes in rural and urban areas. It further plans to strengthen implementation and monitoring of regional transport agreements under COMESA, EAC and other bilateral and multilateral agreements.
As part of the master plan the Government will develop and implement an air transport Master Plan that will facilitate development and maintenance of aviation infrastructure and services to remote parts of the country and promote tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and trade. The ITMP also includes an inland waterways Transport Master Plan Maritime Transport Master plan and Rail Transport master plan
With the private sector the Government will establish ICT systems for efficient development and management of the transport sector. Besides using ICT in road planning, design and monitoring, the systems willed are strengthened to cater for different networks, modes and economic activities.
Use of ICT (weigh-in-motion) in axle load control at weighbridge stations Will also be given due attention. Other areas where ICT use needs to be strengthened are in the regulation of traffic-by-traffic signals, monitoring road traffic offenders and accidents and providing Web-based information on the conditions of roads.
The Government also plans to establish a management information system that provides integrated road transport infrastructure. It will also install a National Traffic Information System (NaTIS) so that traffic authorities can effectively control road users. Plans are underway to introduce new generation driving licences (smart card driving licences), logbooks, and identity cards linked to NaTIS
This is a sector that will interest local and international investors. Application of ICT in the transport sector is still limited, ranging from the level of technology to non-application. Road transport has no freight tracking facilities, while traffic information management is pre-dominantly manual.
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