Kenya has floated an international tender from original bus manufacturers, motor vehicle dealers, leasing companies, financial institutions and interested firms for provision of buses and transport services for the Bus Rapid Transport(BRT) project through leasing.
“We have advertised for the supply of BRT buses for the inception phase. The initial fleet requirement for the 27km stretch from Ruiru to KNH is 100 12m buses will give us 3min headway during peak hour and 5 minutes off-peak,” said Charles Hinga Mwaura, PS Transport in his Twitter account.
The BRT network in Kenya, according to the tender documents, will only be operated by electric, hybrid or biodiesel vehicles.
Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, NAMATA– has, in a notice, invited dealers to present their bids for the sale or lease of electric, hybrid and biodiesel buses to its administration. The leasing options cover three, seven and 12-year periods.
Tenders must be accompanied by a bid security of KSh 1 million and that bidders must submit both technical and financial proposals in separate envelopes. The tender validity period will be 280 days from the date of the opening and an additional 30 days beyond the tender validity period.
Tender documents must be submitted to Ag Director General, Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority on or before March 22nd 2022. Tenders will then be opened immediately at the NaMATA Boardroom.
The BRT in Kenya was proposed by the NAMATA in a 2019 report as a strategy for easing traffic congestion in Nairobi, where over three million commuters spend an average 57 minutes everyday on short journeys.
The unending traffic in Nairobi, the report estimated, costs the country’s economy $1 billion a year in lost productivity.