Kenyan Engineer Wins a Global Award for Intelligent Traffic System Piloted on Nairobi Roads

Kenyan engineer Nicholas Airo has been awarded the Excellence in Roads Africa award for creating an Intelligent Traffic System (ITS).

The system, which is currently being piloted on parts of Nairobi roads, uses video and sound analysis to detect which side of the road has more traffic and gives traffic from that side more green light duration compared to traffic from other sides of a road junction with fewer vehicles.

The award, presented to Airo by Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, is an initiative of the US-based International Road Federation and recognizes efforts towards better, safer, and smarter road systems. 

Airo, who owns NAS International Holdings Limited, thanked the Kenyan government for giving innovation a chance, which has seen the project piloted on Ngong Road and a few adjacent junctions. 

Speaking after receiving the award, he emphasized the need to shift focus from vehicle-centered design to people-centered design for roads.

“We should be judged based on how many people we can move from one point to another and not how many vehicles we can accommodate,” Airo said.

The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) has piloted the ITS system at ten junctions along the Western Ring Road and Ngong Road.

The government aims to connect all 81 major junctions in the city through a multibillion-shilling deal that is expected to be executed by a consortium of companies.

Past winners of the traffic management award include Dubai-based Intelligent Transportation Systems Hazen.