Product Code Database
In Kenya, matatu or matatus (known as mathree in Sheng slang) are privately owned minibuses used as .For Kenya and neighbouring nations, see Kenya's Taxi Vans Are Packed and Perilous nytimes.com, 24 April 1988
Often decorated, many matatu feature portraits of famous people or and .For portraits, see Nairobi Today: the Paradox of a Fragmented City; Hidden $ Centz: Rolling the Wheels of Nairobi Matatu. Mbugua wa-Mungai. (page 376) edited by Helene Charton-Bigot, Deyssi Rodriguez-Torres. African Books Collective, 2010. 404 pages. 9987080936, 9789987080939.
Although their origins can be traced back to the 1960s, matatu saw growth in Kenya in the 1980s and 1990s, The matatu culture sprung up under the influence of widespread hip-hop music and culture by black Americans in the 1980s. By the early 2000s, the archetypal form was a (gaily decorated) Japanese microvan. C. 2015, larger, bus-sized vehicles also started to be used as matatu. The name may also be used in parts of Nigeria. In Kenya, this industry is Regulation, In Nairobi, Kenya puts brakes on its runaway success csmonitor.com, June 28, 1999. and such minibuses must, by law, be fitted with Kenya (p. 383). Tom Parkinson, Max Phillips, Will Gourlay. Lonely Planet, 2006. 352 pp. 1740597435, 9781740597432. and . Nairobi Today: the Paradox of a Fragmented City; Hidden $ Centz: Rolling the Wheels of Nairobi Matatu. Mbugua wa-Mungai. (p. 371). edited by Helene Charton-Bigot, Deyssi Rodriguez-Torres. African Books Collective, 2010. 404 pp. 9987080936, 9789987080939. Present regulation may not be sufficient deterrent to prevent small infractions Nairobi Today: the Paradox of a Fragmented City; Hidden $ Centz: Rolling the Wheels of Nairobi Matatu. Mbugua wa-Mungai (p. 367). edited by Helene Charton-Bigot, Deyssi Rodriguez-Torres. African Books Collective, 2010. 404 pp. 9987080936, 9789987080939. as even decoration may be prohibited. Kenya has one of the "most extensive regulatory controls to market entry", Kumar & Barrett, Stuck in Traffic (2008), p. 17. and a matatu worker can be pulled from the streets simply for sporting too loud a shirt.
They may ply set routes, Kenya (p. 382). Tom Parkinson, Max Phillips, Will Gourlay. Lonely Planet, 2006. 352 pp. 1740597435, 9781740597432. display this route, run from termini, Nairobi Today: the Paradox of a Fragmented City; Hidden $ Centz: Rolling the Wheels of Nairobi Matatu. Mbugua wa-Mungai. (p. 374), edited by Helene Charton-Bigot, Deyssi Rodriguez-Torres. African Books Collective, 2010. 404 pp. 9987080936, 9789987080939. run both inter and intra-city, Negotiating social space: East African microenterprises (p. 69). Patrick O. Alila, Poul O. Pedersen. Africa World Press, 2001. 353 pp. 0865439648, 9780865439641. and may stop along said route to purchase or collect money from passengers.For set routes, see Kenya (page 382) Tom Parkinson, Max Phillips, Will Gourlay. Lonely Planet, 2006. 352 pages. 1740597435, 9781740597432.
In addition to a driver, matatu may be staffed by a Bus conductor, Nairobi Today: the Paradox of a Fragmented City; Hidden $ Centz: Rolling the Wheels of Nairobi Matatu. Mbugua wa-Mungai. (page 371) edited by Helene Charton-Bigot, Deyssi Rodriguez-Torres. African Books Collective, 2010. 404 pages. 9987080936, 9789987080939. locally known as a makanga or manamba or donda. As of 1999, they were the only form of public transport available in Nairobi, Kenya, although in 2006 and 2008 this was no longer the case. Over the years, stiff competition Ride sharing applications disrupt matatu industry in Kenya, see is being experienced from bus-sharing applications such as SWVL. SWVL site
In the early 2000s, struggle over control of matatu routes by informal groups led to violence, and contemporary headlines highlight the fact that matatu were perceived as unsafe. These include a 2002 article titled "riding in Kenya's taxi vans is a death-defying experience""Riding in Kenya's taxi vans is death-defying experience." Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL). Tribune. 2002. HighBeam Research. 6 June 2015 and another from 1999 proclaiming that the "menace of deadly matatus is to be curbed." Mistreatment of passengers has also been reported and includes: "verbal and physical abuse, theft, hijacking, ...sexual harassment, beatings, and rape.""No Mercy, No Remorse": Personal Experience Narratives about Public Passenger Transportation in Nairobi, Kenya. Mbugua wa Mungai and David A. Samper. Africa Today. Vol. 52, No. 3 (Spring, 2006), pp. 51-81 Corruption in the matatu industry is exacerbated by the prevalent practice of bribery, as matatu operators are forced to pay regular bribes to Kenyan police officers in order to avoid their vehicles being impounded and penalties.
Today, Kenya has been described as having extensive regulatory controls, and a matatu worker can be pulled from the streets simply for sporting too loud a shirt.For extensive Kenyan regulatory control, see Stuck in Traffic; Urban Transport in Africa (page 14) Ajay Kumar & Fanny Barrett. Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic in co-operation with the World Bank, January 2008. Draft Final Report.
Some basic safety equipment is required; these minibuses must be fitted with and . Kenya (page 383) Tom Parkinson, Max Phillips, Will Gourlay. Lonely Planet, 2006. 352 pages. 1740597435, 9781740597432. It is unclear, however, to what extent such laws are followed.
Present regulation may not be a sufficient deterrent to prevent small infractions, as even decoration may be prohibited.For regulation as insufficient deterrent, see Nairobi Today: the Paradox of a Fragmented City; Hidden $ Centz: Rolling the Wheels of Nairobi Matatu. Mbugua wa-Mungai. (page 367) edited by Helene Charton-Bigot, Deyssi Rodriguez-Torres. African Books Collective, 2010. 404 pages. 9987080936, 9789987080939.
Laws prohibiting flashy paint-jobs and eye-searing colors were removed in 2015, and as of 2016 matatu in Kenya are brightly decorated with some operators paying upwards of US$2,000 for custom, decorative paint."Inside Africa" CNN International 25 October 2016
In the 1990s and the 2000s, informal groups emerged managing routes and requiring matatu drivers to pay fees.A City under Siege: Banditry & Modes of Accumulation in Nairobi, 1991–2004. Musambayi Katumanga. Review of African Political Economy Vol. 32, No. 106, Africa from SAPs to PRSP: Plus Ca Change Plus C'est la Meme Chose (Dec., 2005), pp. 505-520 At times, competition over control of routes precipitated violence. Today, an individual matatu must be associated with one of over 600 independent, government-registered groups known as (Savings and Credit Cooperatives).For requirement to associate, see
As of late 2010, Kenyan government policy is to phase out minibus matatu in the capital city Nairobi in favour of larger buses seating twenty five or more. Currently, no new matatu vehicles can operate in Nairobi, and the existing ones will be allowed to continue serving passengers until they become completely inoperable. It could take ten years or more to ease the congestion caused by more-popular smaller minibuses, however.
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