How Traffic Jams Affect Relationships and Finances

If you live in the Kenya’s Capital city, then you have been stuck in traffic over a hundred times. Traffic jams are synonymous with city

life in Kenya. This vice is slowly spreading to other cities such as Mombasa.

Traffic jams cause a strain not just on our budgets but also on relationships. At one point in time you have had to wait for someone for over an hour simply because they were stuck in traffic. There are people who have been late for interviews just because of traffic.

It is very sad to see that some parents miss out in their children’s life since they get home late and leave early so as to beat traffic.

Staying in traffic is frustrating and exhausting. We lose so much productive time stuck in traffic which reflects on the economic status of our country.

Traffic congestion in Nairobi is due to poor planning. Despite the number of people and cars in the city having increased, the road capacity has not expanded to accommodate this growth.

According to Kenya Car Bazaar, 400 new cars are introduced to the roads daily and barely any roads are expanded. This means that in one year, the gridlock will get worse and the economic and social losses will grow bigger.

According to Nairobi County Deputy Governor, Jonathan Mueke, Traffic jams costs the city Kshs. 50 Million a day. This translates into Kshs. 18.2 Billion in a year. This is money that can be put into develop and help solve some of the social issues facing Kenyans such as hunger.

I know the government has put various projects in place to improve the transport sector. A good example is the construction of the standard gauge railway line which is already facing corruption allegations. There is also a conflict with the governors on the roads to be under the national government and those to be given to the county government.

Kenyans are tired of the unending conflicts. We want development and a way to measure the impact made by the taxes we pay. My prayer is for the government to fast track the projects so that Kenyans will have alternative means of transport and traffic jams to be a thing of the past.

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