Evan Ndiuini, who was travelling with his family from Nyeri to Nairobi said he had paid Sh1000 from the city on Christmas eve and decided to travel back early so as not to pay high fares.
"We usually pay Sh450 to Nyeri from Nairobi but they charged me Sh1000 and that is why I went back before the fares were increased," he said.
Efforts by police to end traffic snarl-ups during the festive season have been lauded with a few incidents blamed on defective vehicles.
Central Region police commander Lydia Ligami said police officers along the highways managed to control traffic and end the gridlocks.
"The issues on overlapping have been resolved due to the presence of the police officers along the highways but the few incidents reported were caused by defective vehicles stalling on the road," she said.
Speaking when she supervised the police in Murang'a county controlling vehicles along the Thika-Kenol section of the highway, she said they have deployed enough police to control traffic during the holiday season.
The section between Kenol and Kambiti of the dual carriageway was opened on Christmas eve by KeNHA.