The reverse Ken Livingstone - Nairobi Kenya
 

So this is somewhat relevant to transportation policy and the stupidity of politicians. Remember Ken Livingstone (mayor of London) and his 'congestion charge' (which I thought was a good idea). Well, this is exactly the opposite. I was talking to my mum about this.

In Nairobi, Kenya, the minister of transportation has decided to ease the legendary traffic congestion of Nairobi. His brilliant idea? .... He has banned all public service vehicles (buses, matatus etc) from going into the city center. The buses have to stop on the outskirts of the city and the unfortunate passengers have to hoof it from there into the city. The people who own and drive cars (who tend to be middle-class to rich) can still drive into the city. Talk about a bias against public transportation.

If this isn't bone headed I don't know what is. The country is spending massive amounts on fuel (a liter of gas is going for 97ksh, about 1.5 US Dollars. That works out to about 7 dollars per gallon). Rather than emphasize public transportation, walking and bicycling, emphasize a solution that favors the rich over the poor.

My mom (who drives) thinks it is a good thing because she has actually been walking and taking buses everywhere due to the high cost of fuel (and it is faster to get to most places). From where she lives it is a 15 minute drive in no traffic (hah!) to the city center but 2-2.5 hours drive in traffic. She'd much rather save money and walk/take the bus. But of course she is retired so its not really a burden on her. It is a burden on the non-car owning working stiffs who work in downtown.

The car centrist policy of most developing countries is even stupider if you consider that compared to the developed countries a much smaller percentage of the population drive private vehicles. So lets spend money on a relatively small minority and neglect the railways, public transportation, bikes etc.

Dumb, dumb dumb

:eek: holleee

TIA, mate...TIA.

The mind boggles.