Experts warn night travel ban will hurt economy

By JOE KIARIE

An economist has warned that continued absence of long distance night travel will hurt the country’s economy. James Shikwati, the Inter Region Economic Network director, says the cost of doing business will go up while transactions will be altered if PSV operators opt to avoid night travel as a result of stiff government regulations.
He argues that with a section of commuters, especially businessmen, preferring to travel by night and work by day, the ban will cut mass transport by half and force entrepreneurs to spend more during business trips. “Many bus companies are also likely to lay off workers to avoid losses and this will directly affect many families,” says Shikwati.
He argues that the night travel prohibition is motivated by emotions as opposed to scientific research and calls for sobriety. “It will take more than banning night travel to curb accidents. We have to ensure that all major roads are wide enough and have proper signage, invest in revamped policing at night, act firmly on corruption in the police force and motivate the officers,” he states.

Dual carriage
Motorists Association of Kenya chairman Peter Murima concurs, emphasising the need for a universal approach to curb accidents. “We have serious problems in enforcement and so many other rules are being broken,” he says. “We also still have many major yet narrow roads with perennial black spots. They need to be upgraded to dual carriage ways”. Murima, whose organisation supported the new night travel regulations, says the events of the past fortnight have proved how crucial long distance night travel is. “Long-term absence of this crucial service will not be good for the economy. Night travel is very convenient for business people,” he says.