Green Park bus terminus to become operational next week
Green Park bus terminus will become operational by Tuesday next week, Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has announced.
The opening of the terminal will be done in phases, starting with all Public Service Vehicle (PSVs) plying Ngong’ Road and Argwings Kodhek Road.
Three days later, matatus using the Lang’ata Road route will be required to pick and drop passengers at the terminal.
“Nairobi Metropolitan Services wishes to inform Public Service Vehicle (PSVs) operators and the general public that the Green Park Bus Terminal will commence operations starting next week May 24, 2022 in phases,” NMS said in a statement.
The new development comes after the Lieutenant General Mohamed Badi-led administration in March said plans to relocate all matatus from Nairobi city centre will begin in May with the first PSVs to be affected being matatus plying Ngong, Lang’ata and Argwings Kodhek Roads.
Once fully operational, the bus terminal is set to serve as pick up and drop off points for matatus from Ngong, Karen, Rongai, Kikuyu, Dagoretti, Kawangware, Kibra, Highrise, Ngumo, Langata, Nairobi West, Makadara, Kaberia, Satellite and Kiserian. These are essentially matatus plying Ngong and Lang’ata Roads, Raila Odinga Way, Argwings Kodhek, Bunyala and Lusaka Roads.
This means all matatus using Railway bus terminus, Hakati terminus, Tom Mboya Street, Moi Avenue lane from Agro House to Development House and plying the routes above will move to Green Park.
The Sh250 million terminus, located at the former Lunar Park, can accommodate between 300 and 350 vehicles at any one time, processing about 1,000 PSVs per hour and up to 20,000 per day.
In March, NMS announced that only three matatus per sacco will be allowed to access the terminal at any given time. Further, touting will be prohibited at the terminus, matatus will only take 20 minutes within the terminus and it will be mandatory for all staff (drivers, conductor and route marshals) to have badges with names, photos, uniforms, sacco or company name.
Each will only have two staff members to assist in operations at the terminus. No picking or dropping passengers at non-designated places, including the entire stretch of the exit road, will be allowed with express vehicles to be cleared from the management queue at the control center on exit.
The terminus is part of seven out-of-city termini that are being constructed by NMS as part of the Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Master Plan (NIUPLAN) that seeks to ensure a reliable and efficient transport system in the city.
Others include Fig Tree terminus, Muthurwa terminus, Desai and Park Road, Muthurwa-Ladhies terminus, Globe Roundabout terminus and one at the junction of Bunyala and Workshop Road.
Already, three test runs had been conducted at Green Park with the first test run leading to improvement of exit points and the second one on pickup points as well as exit points, and the last on the terminal’s operations.
Last month, NMS announced that Railways Bus Station terminus will be redeveloped into a Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) station for dropping and picking passengers to and from Green Park Terminal.
This will see Kenya Railways Corporation offer last mile services between Green Park terminus and Nairobi city centre ferrying passengers with precedence given to priority groups. They include the elderly, persons with disabilities and expectant mothers who will connect to the city centre after alighting at the bus terminus.
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