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Preston, O. Chitere

TRAINING, TESTING AND LICENSING OF DRIVERS OF PUBLIC SERVICE VEHICLES : Implications for compliance with Traffic Regulations Nairobi. Preston, O. Chitere. Location of the City of Nairobi. Background.

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Preston, O. Chitere

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  1. TRAINING, TESTING AND LICENSING OF DRIVERS OF PUBLIC SERVICE VEHICLES: Implications for compliance with Traffic Regulations Nairobi Preston, O. Chitere

  2. Location of the City of Nairobi

  3. Background • Study is part of larger African Centre of Excellence in Transport’s (ACET)collaborative study of paratransit in the cities of Cape Town, Dar-es-salaam and Nairobi • City of Nairobi is Kenya’s capital and business hub in East African region • Of Kenya’s 60,000 PSVs, about 10,000 are based in the city. • About a third of the PSVs are low capacity-- 7 to 25 passengers but include mid- and larger buses operated largely as paratransit

  4. Background (Cont.) • Nairobi study focused on paratransit as business bearing in mind national goal of safe, efficient and affordable transport services • Study guided by overall assumption of the ACET paratransit study that matatus are a business whose success required better qualified drivers on conducive conditions of work • Found, among other things, that whereas matatus were business, their operations characterized by individual ownership and operations, poor work conditions and lack of sanity • Responsible for a large number of accidents and nearly 30,000 fatalities and injuries each year

  5. Background (Cont.) • Of the various causes of accidents, training, testing and licensing of drivers has been a major concern • Since 2003, a number of policy measures have been proposed or implemented aimed at enhancing quality of driving and compliance with traffic regulations including: • Review of operations of driver training schools • Introduction of syllabus for driver training • Establishment of PSV training • Speed governors, seat belts, uniforms, painting of PSV and hefty fines for non-compliance • Measures have not improved compliance with traffic regulations

  6. Objectives of the Study • To examine how far the training, testing and licensing of drivers influenced their compliance with traffic regulations in the city of Nairobi

  7. Methods of Study • Study site was county or city of Nairobi • City had an area of 656 sq kms and a population of 3.1 million in 2009 • It had nearly 138 intra-and inter-city routes • 13 routes operating along main corridors of Thika, Mombasa, Langata and Jogoo roads and their sub-corridors were purposively sampled • Four (4) PSVs were purposively sampled from each route • 52 drivers of sampled PSVs were contacted and interviewed using an interview schedule • Key informant interviews of managers of selected SACCOs/Bus companies, driving schools, traffic police and MoT officials • Secondary sources of data

  8. Results of the Study • Kenya Bus Services (KBS) was dominant provider of transport services in 1960s to 1980s • In 1990s, Nyayo Bus services operated by National Youth service (NYS) was introduced by the government • Paratransit mode, matatus had emerged in 1950s, grew rapidly and legitimized by government early 1970s • Stiff competition led to collapse of KBS and Nyayo Bus services • Matatus became dorminant mode managed by sole propriators using pigeout pick-ups and later Nissan vans • KBS transformed into franchise and other companies such as Double -M and City Hopper emerged • In 2010 a directive by MoTI forced majority sole-operators to join companies /saccos • In 2011 there were 700 companies/saccos operating on intra-and inter-city routes

  9. MID- and Larger Buses in Nairobi

  10. Training • Nearly 28 commercial schools including KBS train drivers • Better quality professional training is offered by the National Youth service, KBS and AA • Standard training comprises 15 hrs practice and unlimited time for theory • Time is shorter for those with some knowledge of driving • NYS and KBS in addition cover first aid, basic mechanics, vehicle maintenance and security • Admission criteria: National identity card, 18 years old, passport photos and provisional driving license • KBS is only PSV driver training school but trains for itself

  11. Testing • Before licensing, a driver is tested by the Driver Testing Unit (DTU) of the traffic police • Has 17 centres in the country—3 in Nairobi at Karen, Ruaraka and Joogo • Centres are manned by inspectors and senior inspectors of police • There were six (6) examiners at Ruaraka centre • Each tested 15-18 candidates a day • All drivers sampled had been tested • Testing had been arranged by driving school (84.6%), by self (9.6%), employer (1.9%) and others • Problems experienced included: Not able to control vehicle, felt worried and intimidated, panicked and harrassement by police

  12. Licensing • Award of PSV license requires: • Certificate of good conduct issued by the Criminal Investigation department (CID); • Must be over 24 years old • Must have held a driving license for 4 years • Licenses are still manual

  13. Drivers’ Compliance with Traffic Regulations • Regulations: Traffic and Transport Licensing Board Acts, their amendments, gazette notices • Must be licensed by TLB as PSV driver • Must obtain certificate of good conduct • Installation and use of s/governors; • Installation and wearing of seat belts; • Testing and certification of road worthiness of PSV • Safe driving devoid of instances such as obstruction and overlapping

  14. Drivers’ Compliance with Traffic Regulations (Cont.) • Level of compliance was low as evidenced in 2011, 2012 and 2013’s 2394, 2263 and 2257 accidents and 3763, 3350 and 3346 fatalities and injuries • Persons killed: pedestrians, passengers, drivers and conductors and cyclists; • Traffic court cases in 2011, 2012 and 2013 were 61937, 55010 and 60100 and fines of Ksh 112.5 (US$ 1.3), Ksh 187.5 (US$ 2.2) and 358 (US$ 4.2) • PSV share of fines was 47.% • Informal settlements with traffic police

  15. Level of Compliance • Assessed out of “Yes” and “No” responses to 14 items including: • Ensuring installation and wearing of seat belts • Using authorized routes • Making U-turn • Wrong overtaking • Obstruction, and • Ensuring installation and use of s/governors • We created two categories of compliance: • High (> 9 items)---34.5% • Low (<8 items)----65.5% • Accidents: 25% reported causing accidents in past one year

  16. Factors Influencing Compliance with Traffic Regulations • Quality of Training: • 98.2% had trained in driving schools, a few in professional schools like AA • 55.8% had attended some refresher training lasting a day to a few days • Quality of training was significantly associated with compliance • Length of training: • 32.7% had attended training for required <9 wks • Remainder had attended for shorter period • Length of training was not associated to compliance

  17. Factors Influencing Compliance with Traffic Regulations (Cont.) • Age of the drivers: • Youngest was 27 while oldest was 60 years • Nearly half were older in mid-30s to mid-40s • Age of drivers was associated to compliance • Level of education: • 63.4% had attained secondary while 15.4% had diploma and university education • Level of schooling was not associated to compliance

  18. Factors Influencing Compliance with Traffic Regulations (Cont.) • Previous occupation: • 61.5 had worked in related occupations as lorry, taxi, company, or family driver, mechanic, turn boy, etc. • 26.9% were in other types of employment as teachers, waiters, business, etc. • Previous occupation was not associated with compliance • Length of service as PSV driver: • 42.3% had worked in the industry for >11 years • 40.4% had worked for 6-10 years • Length of service was associated with compliance

  19. Factors Influencing Compliance with Traffic Regulations (Cont.) • Type of Employer • 25% were employed by formally-structured companies/Saccos with fleet managed in a pool • 55.8% were employed by loosely structured companies/Saccos dominated by sole-operators • 17.3 were employed by individual operators or as squads • Type of employer was not associated with compliance • Size of PSVs • Government policy is phasing out low capacity PSVs with less than 25 seaters • 26.4% of the drivers drove low capacity 14 seater PSVs • Remainder drove mini- and larger buses of 25-51 seaters • Size of PSV was not associated with compliance

  20. Factors Influencing Compliance with Traffic Regulations (Cont.) • Terms of employment: • 83% were employed on daily basis and only 7.7% had been given letters of appointment • 94.2% preferred on daily basis • Normal leave, insurance and National Social Security Fund contributions were rare • Employer daily target cash collections were as high as Ksh. 25,000-30,000 for larger vehicles • Driver paid about Ksh. 1,000 per day • Employment benefits were not associated to compliance

  21. Conclusions and Recommendations • High incidence of road accidents, fatalies and injuries owing to low compliance of majority drivers with traffic regulations • Compliance was higher among drivers with better quality training, those who were older and had worked for more years • More of these types of drivers are employed by formally structured companies/Saccos • Such formal companies/Saccos had potential of being contracted to operate BRT • Need for strengthening driver training and facilitation of process of formalization of the industry—to enhance professionalism and preparedness to operate envisaged BRT mode

  22. Reconstructed Thika Road

  23. THANK YOU

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