Supported by the World Bank, the detailed designs for A104 Route upgrade were commissioned by KeNHA121 in 2012 and
advanced up to Preliminary Design stage as per MRTS recommendations. Shortly after the inception of design activities, a
decision was made to incorporate dedicated road infrastructure enabling operations of a BRT system along the central and
dense segments of the corridor (JKIA to Westlands) ensuring the provision of space for future BRT expansion towards
northern suburbs.
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Accordingly, specifications and designs were revised partially to reflect the new design premise. However, no final
agreement was reached on the operational and functional designs to be implemented at the Central Business District (CBD)
along with uncertainty on the level and quality of network integration of the projected MRT network, leaving the design
effort at a preliminary stage.
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Tender for construction of A104’s northern segment (where only space provision for future expansion was then deemed
necessary) was awarded in 2016 . The construction commenced in 2018 which is still ongoing as of 2020. Tendering
processes for the remaining segments are still pending and contingent to confirmation of the design premise to follow
regarding: (i) supply of PT and (ii) characteristics of associated road infrastructure supporting private and PT
commuters.
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Due to the high cost of land acquisition, the GoK requested on December 21, 2018 to cancel the undisbursed amount of the
credit that was supporting the construction of a portion of A 104. This resulted in pausing support from the World Bank,
originally structured around the preparation of an investment operation financing the implementation and supporting the
launch of operations of Ndovu’s BRT corridor. Consequently, the Bank’s engagement ensues through the continuation of
policy dialogue in urban mobility strategy and on advancing preparatory works towards project implementation.
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Similarly, complementary activities from other organizations and donors have continued primarily through engagements on
preparatory works. Clear commitments have yet to be made to support pursue actual project implementation.
Below a synapsis of the studies commissioned.
- A104 Highway Capacity Improvement Project – Detailed Engineering Designs
- Divided in three lots, the detailed engineering studies were awarded under international procurement funded by the World
Bank122 under KeNHA’s contract oversight, to three consortia: Lot 1 (South) GIBB Africa (Kenya), Lot 2 (Centre) COWI
(Denmark) and Lot 3 (North) Eser (Turkey).
- Detailed design plans were prepared for Lots 1 and 3 that addressed the core elements of the BRT123 and roadway project
— road and bus running way alignments, drainage and utilities, pavement design, structural design, street lighting,
traffic signal design, station and station fit out design, signage and road markings, boundary works, and terminal &
depot.
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Partial preliminary designs were prepared for Lot 2 along A104 only without consideration for BRT insertion within CBD
roads.
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As detailed design activities for the highway capacity expansion project underwent, following the change of scope to
include the provision of MRT facilities, a series of technical studies were commissioned to complementarily determine
the feasibility of BRT operations along the Ndovu corridor.
- Nairobi Ndovu/A104 BRT Service Plan by ITDP.
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Funded by UN-Habitat and commissioned in 2013 to ITDP, the study carried out a passenger demand assessment resulting in
a service plan for BRT operations following the “open BRT” typology for operational arrangements.
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The study carried out consultations with the Consultancy firms developing the detailed engineering designs along the
A104 project to ensure insertion and seamless integration of BRT infrastructure and associated facilities with the
initially commissioned highway expansion project. This adjustment was satisfactorily achieved for the north and south
lots where median-aligned BRT infrastructure was provided for, whereas the same was found to be challenging for the
central lot where BRT services (and infrastructure) required direct interaction with Nairobi’s CBD, effectively bringing
the passengers to destinations within the city centre’s dense and active streets.
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Designs remained at preliminary stage for the central lot as consensus was not reached on the: (i) appropriate
infrastructure layout to deploy within CBD’s streets and (ii) required BRT integration protocol for the 4 corridors
converging radially.
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The study proposed that the Ndovu BRT routes should follow the current matatu routes itineraries within the CBD by
operating in a loop along Haile Selassie Avenue, Moi Avenue and University Way before returning to A104 under the
premise of a better service supply, transport coverage and passenger distribution in the central area.
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The study evaluated multiple scenarios by testing combinations of various operational arrangements, fare structures and
scales of Public Transport (PT) network rationalization. A service plan was proposed along with recommendations on
functional characteristics and dimensioning considerations for detailed design of BRT infrastructure and associated
facilities (station size, terminal layout, etc.).
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Additional salient features of the proposed BRT system included dual-sided high-capacity buses, off-board fare
collection, level-boarding platforms, ITS systems in operation under public–private partnership arrangements.
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The study built upon the findings and recommendations of the 2014’s “Infrastructure & Intersection Recommendations by
ITDP” where conceptual infrastructure design proposals for the BRT Corridor were provided with particular focus on
intersection design and CBD access.
- BRT Feasibility Study and Business Plan Preparation BRT Line 1 – JKIA to James Gichuru Road
- Funded by the World Bank under the NUTRIP umbrella, the study was commissioned in 2016 to ITP to develop a feasibility
analysis including the: (i) proposal of a revised BRT service plan, (ii) definition of infrastructure and technological
needs supporting BRT operations, (iii) project’s economic and financial evaluations and (iv) preliminary implementation
plan.
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The study built upon ITDP’s work on data collection and service plan definition. Additional rounds of data collection
and analysis were conducted with emphasis on the Ndovu corridor to produce a revised/updated service plan under the same
operational arrangement of open and flexible services.
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Design premises initially adopted for BRT implementation in NMA (median corridor insertion, median- aligned stations,
off-board fare collection, etc.) were challenged by the Consultant. A new proposal was presented in regard to BRT
corridor insertion (lateral corridor insertion) and other functional (on-board fare collection and validation) and
structural characteristics (bi-lateral stations). The new proposal required a drastic modification of the BRT design
premise to be deployed which was thus not fully supported nor adopted by stakeholders.
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The study carried out consultation and technical coordination meetings with consulting teams working simultaneously in
feasibility analyses on other MRT corridors (Lines 3 and 4 West) with the objective of proposing a CBD insertion
strategy for the projected BRT network.
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For CBD BRT operations, the concept principle of loop operation was expanded to accommodate all converging corridors.
However, comprehensive testing and evaluation on a network/city-wide basis was not completed.
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The project estimated passenger ridership forecasts of around 490,000 daily passengers on opening year (2020), capital
expenditure of USD 365 Million (USD 12.6/km) and operational expenditure estimates (on the basis of 1.08 USD/km) to
assess the project’s economic feasibility.
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The project’s fare structure corresponds to a distance-based scheme with KSH 40 for the first 4 km with a step increase
of KSH 3/km.
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The project estimated that the economic appraisal indicators were unfavourable for BRT operations under open service
arrangements — benefit/cost ratio =0.29, Internal Rate of Return = 3.9%, net present value of costs exceeds net present
value of benefits by US$621.6 Million).
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Considering the unfavorability of the assessment, the project carried out a value engineering analysis to improve
evaluation indicators with the following outcome —benefit/cost ratio =1.79, Internal Rate of Return = 20.5%, net present value of benefits exceeds net present value of
costs by US$168.7 Million).
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The Consultant’s proposed design premise and final study’s outcomes presented divergences at multiple technical aspects
of the assessment with outcomes and recommendations from previous studies, international best practices in BRT planning
and World Bank’s evidence and experience in urban mobility and public transport planning.
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Moreover, the final proposal failed to consider the design and feasibility works at the time in progress for other
corridors, thus foreclosing the principles of integration and system interoperability.
