Nairobi 3rd most commuter painful driving experience city

A new survey on
commuting released today
by International Business
Machines Corp. found that
for many people in
metropolitan areas around
the world, getting to work is
more painful endeavor than
ever. In some cases,
people’s negative feelings
about driving may have
more to do with their
emotional states than actual
driving conditions.
The IBM study looked at the
daily commute in a number
of economically important
international cities and
reveals a surprising pattern.
Even though commuting
has generally become more
bearable during the past
year, drivers are
complaining a lot more
about traffic and the stress
and anger it causes.
The annual global
Commuter Pain study
shows that in some cities
more people now are taking
public transportation rather
than driving, compared
with a year ago. In many
cities a much higher
percentage of respondents
said roadway traffic has
improved “somewhat” or
“substantially” in the past
three years.
Still, a growing number of
respondents say traffic on
the road “has increased
their levels of personal
stress and anger and
negatively affected their
performance at work or
school,” the survey says.
“Commuting doesn’t occur
in a vacuum,” said Naveen
Lamba, IBM’s global
intelligent transportation
expert. “A person’s
emotional response to the
daily commute is colored by
many factors – pertaining
both to traffic congestion as
well as to other, unrelated,
issues. This year’s Global
Commuter Pain survey
indicates that drivers in
cities around the world are
much more unsettled and
anxious compared with
2010.”
IBM compiled the results of
the survey into its
Commuter Pain Index that
ranks the emotional and
economic toll of commuting
in each city. Higher scores
indicate more onerous
conditions. The index
reveals great disparity in
the pain of commuting in
some cities compared with
others. Montreal had the
least painful commute of
the cities in the survey,
followed by London and
Chicago.
The index includes 10
factors: 1) commuting time,
2) time stuck in traffic,
agreement that: 3) price of
gas is already too high, 4)
traffic has gotten worse, 5)
start-stop traffic is a
problem, 6) driving causes
stress, 7) driving causes
anger, traffic affects
work, 9) traffic is so bad
that driving stopped, and
10) decided not to make
trip due to traffic.
The cities scored as follows:
Mexico City: 108; Shenzhen
95; Beijing 95; Nairobi 88;
Johannesburg 83;
Bangalore 75; New Delhi
72; Moscow 65; Milan 53;
Singapore 44; Buenos Aires
42; Los Angeles 34; Paris
31; Madrid 28; New York
City 28; Toronto 27;
Stockholm 26; Chicago 25;
London 23; and Montreal
21.

The matatu industry, an avenue for investment and employment for many, represents the best and worst of the true spirit of enterprise. Self-regulated by often competing interests, the industry has largely degenerated into a by-word for disorder and indiscipline - a Kenyan wild west.

But the steady decline in service standards by players like the Kenya Bus Services and City Hoppa is a poignant reminder that even angels fall from grace.There is no doubt that last months action arose out of genuine and unresolved complaints by the industry against the traffic police whose appetite for bribes is legion. Like marrows growing on a rich dung heap, traffic police feed on the chaos of the matatu industry.Because there is no genuine, systematic and entrenched commitment from the highest levels within the police force to rein in corruption, there are no prizes for betting that last week's strike is not the last.True, a few dozen police officers have been arrested and charged over corruption but the numbers pale in comparison to the extent of the problem.The saving grace is that in the midst of this cacophony of organised chaos, a few notable exceptions, like Double M, 2 NK, among others show that the industry can get its act together and is not beyond redemption.High sounding pontification about zero-tolerance to corruption rings hollow when viewed against obvious equivocation in ridding the force of its bad apples.There are few "poor" traffic cops, many cannot account for their wealth and it is common knowledge that the department is widely seen as the most lucrative because it aseasy pickings.That is not to say that there are no traffic police officers committed and faithful to their callinBut these are few and far between - the exception rather than the norm.Kenyans must be saved from an irascible matatu industry that largely chooses not to play by the rules and a traffic police brigade that enriches itself under the guise of rendering public service.

lessons

• 
  
• KenyaFor the matatu industry, there is an abiding lesson from within its own ranks that order is not bad for business where effective self-regulation ensures enforcement and censure for breaking the rules. This is common sense that must be driven home.

But it is time we seriously debated whether we can do without traffic police. They are bad for business everywhere and the legion of complaints against them calls for a serious rethink on their role and place.Opting for greater reliance on technology to enforce the traffic code may be the way to lance the boil of corruption on our roads though this may only transfer the problem elsewhere.Still, this must not paralyse us into inaction because, if there are any lessons to take from last week's strike, it is that our police officers cannot be entrusted to tame a wild west that is their gambling casino. Though Kenya is not a banana republic, we may go bananas unless we act.
                   The minor towers next to the citizen.