Key Findings (Short Term Proposals):
- Existing CCTV networks in addition to analytics software could be
leveraged to monitor traffic flow and predict traffic flow in order to
allow Police to direct traffic more effectively
- Traffic police could use mobile phone based solutions to communicate
traffic updates as well as enforce traffic rules through an integrated
system that would link into the transport operations centre
- Mobile phone signals could track and identify hotspots, alerting mobile
users to routes to avoid
- Commuters could access an open data portal that would be used to enforce
traffic rules and also monitor traffic flows
- Parking systems in the city could be automated, alerting commuters to
open spaces in the city and minimising time spent searching for traffic
(Nairobi has one of the world's longest parking wait times, taking between
30-45 minutes to identify a spot, leading to increased congestion in the
CBD - Source: IBM Parking Survey 2011)
- Cashless payment systems for PSVs would enable fare stabilisation and
limit opportunities for theft by operators and criminals
- Tracking solutions would ensure that PSVs are sticking to their specified
route as well as provide a means to track violators

IBM Team Finds Innovative Use of Technology Could Ease Nairobi’s Traffic
Jams

Execution of identified projects could help relieve city gridlock within 90
days of implementation

NAIROBI, Kenya - May 11, 2012: A team of IBM (NYSE: IBM) top experts
assigned to Nairobi today provided a cohesive framework and roadmap to the
city to improve the flow of road traffic, increase revenues from the
transportation sector, and enhance collaboration between various transport
bodies.

The recommendations complement Nairobi's considerable ongoing investment in
underlying roadway infrastructure. They include making traffic information
more readily available to citizens, motorists, police, policymakers and
planners so that better transportation decisions can be made in the near
and far term.

The blueprint presented by the IBM team also includes suggestions for using
available technologies, including mobile phones, sensors and CCTV, to more
automatically pinpoint traffic issues. In the recommended plan, parking
and licensing would also be digitized and automated -- streamlining
bureaucratic processes and increasing citizen satisfaction.

The IBM team, which performed several months of preparation before spending
three weeks in local residence, studied Nairobi’s transportation system as
part of an IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant valued at Sh33 million (US
$400,000), announced in March of this year.

“A city is a system of systems – one key finding of the study is that
technology could provide a relatively simple way of bringing together
existing systems to streamline the city’s transport sector and increase
revenues for the government,” said Tony Mwai, Country General Manager, IBM
East Africa.

Despite impressive investments in building road networks, inefficiencies
within the city's transport sector cost Nairobi an estimated Sh50 million
per day, negating revenues and commercial benefits from otherwise
significant road infrastructure, and limiting the region’s economic growth.

“The government has made immense investments in infrastructure over the
last 10 years but we are challenged by the fact that many departments
within government are working in isolation and not collaborating,” said Dr.
Bitange Ndemo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and
Communications.

“We will review these recommendations made by the IBM team with a view to
fast-tracking them to help maintain Nairobi’s position as a key regional
economic hub,” Dr Ndemo said.

Intelligent Transport Solutions
The team of IBM consultants recommended the creation of a
cross-departmental Smarter Transportation Authority that would harness
initiatives taking place across government agencies under a single unit.

This would allow for faster rollout of decongestion plans, enhancing
revenue collection for government agencies and tightening enforcement of
traffic rules.

In addition, the IBM consultants advised the development of a Smarter
Transportation Platform with an intelligent operations command centre,
leveraging existing and new closed-circuit television networks that show
vehicle, traffic and roadway conditions as events unfold.

Enabling stakeholders such as citizens and police to view these video feeds
online would lead to a decrease in traffic congestion by allowing commuters
to plan their trips accordingly and police to allocate manpower more
efficiently.

Another suggestion was to integrate data from multiple sources, including
mobile phone signals generated from citizens stuck in traffic jams, to
pin-point traffic hot-spots. Analytics software could then be used to
predict future flow issues, pushing the information needed to re-direct
traffic to the intelligent operations centre.

The team also suggested digitizing parking for the speed and ease of
finding parking spaces, to minimize congestion and to reduce environmental
impact as well as using mobile devices to empower traffic police to monitor
and manage traffic offenders through an intelligent enforcement solution.

The team’s findings follow the recent launch of an IBM research report
titled "A Vision of a Smarter City: How Nairobi Can Lead the Way into a
Prosperous and Sustainable Future" which highlights transportation, energy
and public safety as three critical areas that the city must address in
order to boost its economic competitiveness.

Smarter Cites Challenge
Nairobi beat 140 other cities around the world to become one of IBM’s
Smarter Cities Challenge winners in March. Launched in 2011, the IBM
initiative is a three-year, 100-city US $50 million program and is IBM's
single-largest philanthropic outreach.

Along with the deployment of a specialist team of expert consultants who
focus on the city’s primary challenge, IBM provides special assistance to
each winning city on the use of City Forward (http://www.cityforward.org),
a free online site IBM created with public policy experts. Citizens,
elected officials and urban planners can use the site to explore trends and
statistics in a visual and accessible way, which can be adapted for the
examination of any number of urban issues -- leading to better decision
making.

“Nairobi demonstrated a desire to set an example for other municipalities,
an eagerness to collaborate with multiple stakeholders, and a strong
commitment to consider implementing recommendations the city felt would be
the most feasible and beneficial to its residents." said Stanley S. Litow,
IBM vice president of Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs, and
President of IBM's Foundation.

To find out more about IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grants, please visit
http://smartercitieschallenge.org/ and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sJ_3H0K3zo

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 11:57 AM, Josphat Karanja <karanjajf@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Listers,

I have followed this debate from the sidelines and have reached the conclusions below:

The is a fundamental design flaw on our roads - This is evidence by input from Dr Ndemo which was "ignored". Are the concerned parties now ready to listen or are we going to export these problems to Langata Rd, Ngong Rd, New airport terminals, Lamu Port etc?
There is the role played by the auditors at various stages as defined above - Do we have evidence that KeNHA engages these or in other words do we have people in Government/Private sector playing that role currently?
There is data collection and it role - But as we know data is useless unless turned to information. Do the relevant authority use this data? Work is on going on Langata road and am sure in four months we will be crying foul.
There is the common user and there very annoying problems - turn-offs which are suddenly blocked with no notice, on coming vehicle channeled to your lane, taking one hour to get to your gate while all the time you can see it a few meters from wehre you are stuck! Who is listening and helping?

There is the role that ICT can play to enable smart infrastructure - my take is that unless we embed it in at step 1 (design) above, it will be most likely be cosmetic.
There is the policy, cultural and "peculiar kenyan" habits to deal with - illegal u-turns, not using foot bridges (Valley Road!), bribes,over lapping (Especially for GK vehicles) etc. How do we deal with that? Is the current Traffic Amendment act the best way to go at it?
Lastly, there is the silent prayer for Michuki's "resurrection" - Who will be the champion for this change - Especially item 6 above.

my two cents..

Regards
...........................................................
Josphat Karanja,

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 11:28 AM, Edith Adera <eadera@idrc.or.ke> wrote:

Francis,

Good points. We should avoid “ICTs looking for the problem”, but first define the problem through an evidence-base and strategically see where smart transport solutions would add value and address the problems – part of the framework Mureithi alluded to.

Edith

________________
Edith Ofwona Adera

Senior Program Specialist
Climate Change and Water Program

Agriculture and Environment
International Development Research Centre

Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa

Liason House 2^nd floor, State House Avenue, Nairobi, Kenya
+254-20-2713160/1 | Fax: +254-20-2711063 | Mobile: +254-733-624345

eadera@idrc.ca | www.idrc.ca | www.crdi.ca

From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of Francis Hook
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 8:42 AM

To: Edith Adera
Cc: Nashon Adero; James Gachanja; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya' Road Safety Status

Hi Barrack
Thanks. I think before integrating ICT into the mix, the enforcement itself MUST be fixed. Otherwise cameras will only tell us the obvious - that traffic police and motorists are both culpable. The word "impunity" has oft been bandied around when it comes to Kenya and Kenyans - I am not convinced a camera will shame anyone into proper behavior or to uphold the law. As it were various TV stations have on different occasions secretly filmed police taking bribes, motorists flouting the law, etc (and pls bear in mind, unlike CCTV, TV's reach is much wider and such coverage does "sting" more than the individuals in the footage. Has that helped?

I think a solution should solve a problem without creating others e.g. who will monitor the cameras? OK say we get the funds to hire people to do that. Then who will monitor those monitoring the cameras to ensure they too do not get sucked into graft (i.e. delete footage, look the other way, etc). Let me take a few steps back. The traffic police are the ones meant to monitor motorists and ensure the law is upheld. Now that is not happening. So we want to mount CCTV cameras to monitor them....then we need people to monitor those monitoring the cameras who are monitoring the police who are not monitoring the motorists. This can go all the way upstream.

I think we'd be opening a can of worms if we add a layer of ICT on a problem whose solution should first be proper enforcement to bring about behavioural change. At some point the anti-corruption authority was doing well to ambush bribe takers....I think that's the type of solution we need first....an independent body to deal with graft. Once that rot is fixed, CCTV can be added to help the police themselves to dientify hit and runs, monitor and direct traffic flows, etc etc and not simply be a "big brother" type of device intended to scare police and motorists to comply.

My two bits.

regards

F
On 18 May 2012 08:19, Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack@gmail.com> wrote:
@ Francis,

Whats your take on the design issues raised by Dr. Aligula, on another note and to emphasise on the your last paragraph people get away with offences because the officer has the power to release you depending on how you interface on the road, this is a deeply rooted problem can we reduce by intergrating Cameras and other forms of technology that would help deter waywardness. ICTs can help reinforce current enforcement methods.

Best Regards
On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 8:13 AM, Francis Hook <francis.hook@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you. It is gratifying to note the drop in casualties, injured, etc between 2003 and 2005 - I think that is attributable to the "Michuki rules".

Curious to know what happened between 1977 and 1979 to cause a drastic drop (looks like 100% y-o-y) in "serious injuries per 100 casualties"? (in the "Crash survival rates chart).

Looking at "Road risk travel patterns" - where it shows the "fatalities per 100,000 vehicles" seems to show an all time low (since 1963) in 2011. I think to "read" this accurately we'd perhaps want to:

1 - Compare the population growth rate vs growth rate of vehicles on the road. If the human population has grown faster, then naturally the fatalities per 100k vehicles will be lower - a distortion I think.

2 - Between 1963 and 2011 there have been more roads built, more towns developed, etc ergo more time spent on the road, longer distances travelled collectively, greater time spent on the roads, etc and perhaps higher probabilities of accidents happening. Also I would like to think the types of roads themselves increase the risks of accidents by speeding - higher chances of fatalities on smooth tarmac than on a lumpy murram back road.

Just my two bits. However, some of the listers feel ICT can help with the issue of Thika Road - but your stats esp for 2003-2005 CLEARLY show that slight changes to the traffic code and proper enforcement can help turn this around. So lets pass the buck to the minister of transport, the traffic police etc.

On 17 May 2012 18:00, Eric Aligula <jairah@kippra.or.ke> wrote:

Listers

As you debate the very grave road safety situation in Kenya, we would wish to share this preliminary information from a study we are conducting on the accuracy of road safety data. Good data is critical for effective policy formulation, implementation and evaluation. Anecdotal evidence suggests a significant level of underreporting, compounded by errors in other complimentary data sets.

However, on the basis of what is available, we aver that the major problem in respect of road safety in Kenya is a human problem. That is our weakest link. How to deal with it is key.

It is very broad brush and we welcome feedback even as we look for answers from Thika Road.

Kind regards

Eric Aligula Magolo, PhD
Programmes Coordinator & Ag. Head, Infrastructure and Economic Services Division

Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)
P.O. Box 56445, 00200 Nairobi, Kenya
Telephone:       +254-20-2719933/4
Fax:                +254-20-2719951
E-mail:            jairah@kippra.or.ke
URL:              www.kippra.org

Proudly Kenyan, Kenyan by Nature!
“In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility……….I welcome it.”

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