Uber Mulls Launching Minibus Service in Nairobi
Uber is planning to launch minibus service targeting congested estates in Nairobi.
Uber’s East Africa General Manager Loic Amado says the service will be rolled out in Nairobi if the ongoing tests on the product in Egypt and Mexico are successful.
Uber says more than a third of Nairobi residents rely on crowded matatus as their main form of transport and hence the need for this new product.
“We want to be part of the transportation ecosystem in Nairobi and matatus are a big part of how people move around,” Amado notes, adding that the feature would be available on the Uber App.
Uber launched its service in Kenya about four years ago and currently has more than 6,000 active drivers in Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa.
Amado says once the product succeeds in Nairobi, it will be unveiled in other East African cities including Kampala (Uganda) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). He explains that vehicles with a capacity of up to 16 passengers will be used for the service.
“It would help reduce idle time at the bus stop during slow hours,” says Jackson Onyinkwa, chairman of one of Nairobi’s matatu associations.
Comments
Will Uber bring their mini…
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Will Uber bring their mini-buses or will they rely on the ones bought by moneyed Kenyan thugs?Kenyan thugs because no other Kenyan can afford to hire his vehicle to a loss making service/business.Ata ya petroli hawapati leave alone for loan repayment or maintenance.
Why not Uber if matatu…
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Why not Uber if matatu industry can not manage itself better? We need discipline and order.Quiet space without loud noises and obnoxious videos only fit to be watched in a porn environment, safe and sober drivers behind the wheel not drunken thugs. Traffic cops would have to figure out another way to supplement their income.
You said it Mugikuyu. I…
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You said it Mugikuyu. I cannot understand how these lawless matatus are not charged for exposing wananchi to that LOUD, DIRTY noise in the name of music....so so wrong! I thought I'd fight with the makangas about the music, but they haul you right out...utaenda wapi?
THANKS MATIANGI ....bring back Muchuki laws and some! Hata hio Uber itakama ni foreigners who just take it all away.....at least for sanity!
I think Nairobi should had…
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I think Nairobi should had invested in a metro metrorail stations like they have in Miami, or a train systems like the one in Dubai.
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