DECARBONIZING PUBLIC TRANSPORT: POLICY UPTAKE AND BARRIERS IN NAIROBI, KENYA
Kenneth Ndungu Murira - Student, Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
Catherine Gateri - Lecturer, Department of Public Policy and Administration, Kenyatta University, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Transport decarbonization in Nairobi has many challenges as a public transportation system that is highly dependent on fossil fuels increasing greenhouse gas emissions. While Kenya has made climate commitments in line with the Paris Agreement, very few measures of low-carbon forms of transport has taken root. This study investigated the factors affecting the implementation of the policies on decarbonization of transport in Nairobi focusing on the barriers, stakeholder awareness, and infrastructural readiness. Socio-Technical Transitions theory and Diffusion of Innovations theories were used to examine the low rate of adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), provision of non-motorized transport (NMT) infrastructure, and use of clean fuels in a city that contributed to a significant amount of transport emissions in the country. Research objectives were to analyze the institutional, policy, technical, and financial barriers to policy take-up, to analyze the awareness and the perception of public transport stakeholders, and to evaluate the adequacy of infrastructure for decarbonization. The study was done within the jurisdiction limits of Nairobi County, with close attention to its informal and fragmented public transport system. A mixed method design was used in which descriptive survey and exploratory designs were combined. Quantitative analysis using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and the qualitative data was analyzed under thematic analysis. The sample was made up of 120 respondents made up of the SACCO leaders, bus drivers, fleet owners/ investors and industry experts who were selected purposively. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between independent variables (barriers to transport decarbonization, stakeholder awareness and perceptions, and infrastructure adequacy) and dependent variables (policy uptake for transport decarbonization) indicated by a significant level of 0.000. The correlation coefficient (R = 0.762) suggests a strong positive correlation between the predictors and the policy uptake. The study concluded that institutional, policy, financial and technical barriers collectively present a highly challenging environment for the decarbonization of transport in Nairobi. The prohibitively high upfront costs of electric vehicles, coupled with extremely limited access to affordable financing mechanisms, constitute the most significant financial barrier preventing transport operators from switching to a low-energy transport. The national government should create a special financing facility for the decarbonization of public transport addressing the high upfront cost of electric vehicles. This should include subsidies or grants for a percentage of the cost of purchase of electric vehicles, schemes of low interest loans made specifically for transport operators and tax incentive schemes, including tax (VAT) exemption on electric vehicles and charging equipment.