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Uber estimates that more than a third of Kenyans in Nairobi use
the often crowded minibuses, known as matatus, as their main
form of transport around the city, Uber's East Africa General
Manager Loic Amado told Reuters.
"We want to be part of the transportation ecosystem in Nairobi
and matatus are a big part of how people move around," he said,
adding the feature would be available on the Uber app.
The company already operates Uber Pool and Uber Express Pool in
cities such as London and New York, so taxi drivers can carry
more passengers heading to the same or nearby destinations.
The service that may be rolled out in Kenya is being tested in
Egypt's capital Cairo and the Mexican city of Monterrey.
Uber, which launched in Kenya four years ago and now has 6,000
active users, is seeking an edge over rival operators in the
East African nation, such as Estonian ride-hailer Taxify and
Little, set up by Nairobi-based Craft Silicon.
Once the service is proven in Nairobi, Amado said it could be
expanded to Kenya's neighbors, such as Uganda's capital Kampala
and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The idea would be to apply it to
vehicles carrying up to 16 people, he added.
Amado said the new Uber product would allow customers to track
and trace the minibuses.
"It would help reduce idle time at the bus stop during slow
hours," said Jackson Onyinkwa, chairman of one of Nairobi's
matatu associations. His association has 46 vehicles.
The government announced this week measures to bring more order
to the matatu industry, seeking to curb traffic violations and
overcrowding.
Matatu drivers staged a one-day strike in protest, but returned
to work after 2,000 were detained by the authorities.
(Additional reporting by John Ndiso; Editing by Maggie Fick and
Edmund Blair)
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