Travellers flock at the Machakos Country Bus in Nairobi to travel in time for Christmas to various dentitions on December 23, 2013. Most of the companies have stopped bookings on nearly all routes to deal with the backlog of those who had already planned to travel at night. SALATON NJAU (NAIROBI)
Thousands of people who visited their rural homes and various holiday destinations for December festivities will have a hard time travelling back following a ban on night travel for long-distance public service vehicles.
Bus companies were Thursday rescheduling those already booked to travel at night to fit into the 6am-6pm timeline allowed.
Most of the companies have stopped bookings on nearly all routes to deal with the backlog of those who had already planned to travel at night.
“The challenge is the overlap. We had booked passengers for nights and days; so right now we are adjusting our timelines to try and ensure those who had been booked for night can travel the following morning,” said Crown Bus Operations manager James Mwakio.
He added that they were dealing with a backlog of about 5,000-6,000 over the coming five days.
Those likely to be most affected are ones who had no bookings with competition for the available buses likely to push up fares which were already high due to the Christmas and New Year rush.
At the Western Express Coach offices, travellers turned up to confirm their dates of travel although the attendants said that the problem was for those travelling from upcountry.
“If a bus can’t make it to the destination on time, sometimes you have to consider hiring private means to take the passengers the rest of the way,” said Gladys Ndirangu who is in charge of bookings.
Although the bus companies have been given the option to apply for the night-travel permits afresh, Mr Mwakio said that offices have been closed due to the holidays and they were only likely to start the process on Monday.
The Ministry of Transport directive on Tuesday banning night travel left thousands of travellers stranded in booking offices.
It followed an escalation of fatal accidents this month including the Mtito Andei crash that claimed 18 lives prompting Principal Secretary Nduva Muli to issue the ban.
By mid-December over 3,000 lives had been lost on the roads despite the government rolling out harsher traffic regulations.