Nairobi Motorists To Face New Parking Fee As County Adopts Cost-Based Pricing Policy

Motorists in Nairobi to face changes in parking fee over the next few years after the Nairobi City County Government adopted a new Tariffs and Pricing Policy that seeks to align parking fees with the actual cost of providing and maintaining parking services.

According to the Nairobi City County Tariffs and Pricing Policy 2025-2030 outline a major shift in how the county intends to determine parking charges, moving away from the long-standing pricing system that has largely depended on outdated Nairobi City Council by-laws and annual revisions through the County Finance Act.

County officials say the new policy is aimed at creating a more transparent, fair and sustainable pricing framework that ensures motorists’ parking payments are directly linked to the services they receive.

According to the policy document, the current parking tariff structure has several weaknesses that have limited its effectiveness over the years. Among the concerns raised is the lack of transparency on how revenue collected from motorists is spent, despite parking fees being one of the county’s key own-source revenue streams.

The county notes that many motorists have little information on how the money collected from daily parking charges contributes to improving services such as road maintenance, traffic management, street lighting, parking infrastructure and security within the city.

“Parking tariffs in Nairobi are largely set using legacy provisions from the Nairobi City Council by-laws, updated annually through the County Finance Act,” the policy states.

The document further points out that although proposals have previously been made to introduce zonal pricing, where parking charges would vary depending on location, congestion levels and land value, the system has never been fully implemented.

Under such a model, motorists parking within highly congested areas such as the Central Business District (CBD) would likely pay different rates compared to those parking in residential estates or less busy parts of the city.

“The zonal pricing approach, proposed in recent years to reflect congestion levels and land value (for example the CBD versus estate zones), has yet to be fully operationalised,” the county says.

The county also acknowledges that while it has made significant progress in digitising parking payments through platforms such as e-Parking, technology alone has not addressed concerns surrounding accountability and transparency.

According to the policy, although digital payment systems have made it easier for motorists to pay parking fees, there remains limited public information showing how the revenue generated is invested back into improving parking facilities and related transport services.

Officials argue that another major weakness of the current system is the absence of a comprehensive pricing policy capable of supporting regular, evidence-based reviews of parking charges.

Instead of relying on historical pricing models or periodic adjustments through finance legislation, the county now wants future tariff reviews to be guided by data such as parking demand, occupancy levels, infrastructure maintenance costs and peak-hour usage.

As part of developing the new framework, Nairobi County conducted a detailed cost analysis of its parking infrastructure to establish the actual cost of constructing and maintaining parking facilities across the city.

The assessment estimates that building and maintaining one standard parking bay costs approximately Ksh209,464 over its lifespan.

With Nairobi currently operating around 16,900 parking spaces, the county estimates that the total cost of constructing and maintaining the parking infrastructure stands at approximately Ksh3.54 billion.

“The estimated cost of constructing and maintaining one parking slot was found to be Ksh209,464. Considering the County has 16,900 parking slots, the total cost for constructing and maintaining parking is Ksh3,539,946,429,” the policy states.

The document further explains that if the county were to recover these costs over a 20-year period, it would need to generate roughly Ksh177 million annually from parking services.

County officials say this analysis provides a more realistic basis for determining future parking tariffs while ensuring that the pricing structure reflects the actual cost of maintaining parking infrastructure instead of relying on outdated estimates.

Despite concerns that the policy could pave the way for higher parking charges, the county has clarified that the document does not automatically introduce new parking fees or increase existing rates.

Instead, it establishes the principles and methodology that will guide future tariff reviews across county services, including parking.

Any proposal to revise parking charges will still have to undergo public participation before being tabled in the Nairobi City County Finance Act for approval by the County Assembly

This means motorists will have an opportunity to give their views before any new parking rates can be implemented.

The parking policy forms part of a broader county strategy aimed at reforming how fees and user charges are determined across all county services.

According to the county, the new Tariffs and Pricing Policy seek to replace fragmented pricing systems that have developed over the years with a single, standardised framework based on cost recovery, efficiency, fairness and transparency.

Officials believe the unified approach will strengthen revenue collection, improve financial sustainability and ensure that user charges are based on clear economic principles rather than historical practices.

If fully implemented, the framework is expected to guide future reviews of not only parking fees but also other county charges, with adjustments being informed by evidence, service delivery costs and changing demand instead of relying solely on outdated by-laws.

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