Matatus To Carry More Passengers In New Directive

Matatus will now be allowed to carry more passengers after the government relaxed the Covid-19 protocols set earlier for the public transport sector.

In the earlier directive, PSVs were only required to carry 50 percent of their normal capacity in an effort to reduce on the spread of Covid-19 among passengers.

In the new guidelines, a 14 seater matatu will now carry 10 passengers as opposed to 8 including driver and crew while 33-seaters will now be allowed a sitting capacity of 18 including the driver and crew.

51 seater matatu will be allowed a sitting capacity of 30 including the driver and crew, while in the case of bodabodas, only one pillion passenger shall be carried.

As for the Tuktuks, they will only be allowed to carry one passenger including the rider. Cars that have a capacity of five people will only be allowed to ferry three individuals including the driver.

The Ministry of Transport says the guidelines should be adhered to and those who will fail to observe them will be arrested and prosecuted.

Covid-19 cases in Kenya have continued to rise ever since President Uhuru Kenyatta opened up the country and lifted the cessation of movement in and out of the counties of Nairobi, Mombasa, and Mandera.

The cases are currently above 11,000 and the Ministry of Health has told Kenyans to expect more cases in the coming days and tests go on. The Ministry has also blamed the surge in the cases on the ignorance of Kenyans who have refused to observe the set guidelines.

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