Training, testing and licensing of drivers of public service vehicles : their implications for compliance with traffic regulations in the city of Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 7-10 July 2014 "Leading Transport into the Future", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.The objective of this study was to find out how far training, testing and licensing of paratransit public service vehicle (PSV) drivers ensured their compliance with road safety regulations. Fifty two (52) drivers were sampled and interviewed from 13 routes situated along four major corridors in the City of Nairobi. About two-thirds (61.5%) of the drivers reported having lowly complied with traffic regulations. The PSV industry was dominated by SACCOS/companysole proprietor type of organization and operations characterized by setting of target amount of money to be given to the operator each day and casual employment with daily wage and no other benefits. More of the drivers who had attended professional schools or refresher courses, those who were older and those who had served for more years tended to comply with traffic regulations. Establishment of PSV schools with standard syllabus, introduction of hybrid system with BRT operating on major corridors and contracted to better performing SACCOs/companies and employing better qualified drivers will improve compliance with traffic regulations.