As the bus plying Route 145 (city centre-Ruiru) approaches the stage on Latema Road in Nairobi, the first thing that strikes you is the aura of discipline around it.
For a start, there is no tout at the door yelling for passengers. There is only the driver and one tout – none of the usual fellows pretending to be touts who jump onto a matatu when they see it approaching.
The bus looks remarkably clean on the outside and a peek inside reveals seats that are equally clean. A ride inside shows a driver and tout who are both very courteous.
And the driving is very different from what one is used to in most public transport vehicles: no speeding, no wild swerving, no screeching brakes and no overlapping.
This is one of the few matatus operating under Lopha Travels that have been fitted with a new mobile remote surveillance system, as evidenced by the notice inside that reads, “This bus is under 24-hour CCTV surveillance.
The system enables the owner, Mr Stephen Kamau, to monitor its every move from his cell phone. At the tap of a button on his phone, Mr Kamau can tell how many passengers are in the vehicle at any time, and should the need arise, he can retrieve the images of all the passengers’ faces.
And in case of an accident or incident in the vehicle, he can get a video before and after the incident. In addition, he can monitor the speed and fuel level of the bus at any time.
“On several occasions, I have called the driver and asked him to slow down when I am still at home,” Mr Kamau says with a chuckle.
So, unlike the more common car tracking systems which simply indicate where a vehicle is, this system allows Mr Kamau to also monitor what is happening inside the bus. And thanks to the system, he says, he is not experiencing any monkey business by his matatu crew since he can easily authenticate the day’s collection.
The other bus companies that have fitted their vehicles with CCTVs in the city are CBET and ROG buses which ply the city centre-Buruburu route, and the MOA Compliant buses associated with Matatu Owners’ Association Chairman Simon Kimutai.
The new software, whose main server is in Israel, is locally operated by a Kenyan company, Spytrack & Surveillance based in Suraj Plaza in Ngara, is taking fleet management a notch higher.
Like several other transport companies with similar systems, Lopha Travels is yet to install the gadgets in most of its 56, 33-seater buses because fitting them is quiet costly.
Reuben Motari, a regular commuter on Mr Kamau’s bus, says he chooses it for his own security.
“Theft in matatus will be curbed. It is also a deterrent to criminals who board matatus, rob passengers and then dump them,” says the father of three and one-time victim of a carjacking on a Route 45 bus.
But it is not just PSV owners who are increasingly adopting real-time monitoring. In faraway Meru, Dr Ali Wario, who runs a regional distribution business for veterinary products, is enamoured with the new system. “We can now ensure that only authorised products that are ferried in our vehicles. Tales of un-authorised goods or passengers no longer exist. It has improved business,” gushes Dr Wario.
Equally happy with the new system is Mr Hussein Ahmed Bura, who transports goods between Mombasa, Uganda and Rwanda, who says it will enhance security in the transit business.
Mr Bura says that his company, which he requested us not to name, lost goods worth Sh100 million in unclear circumstances between 2010 and 2012.
“We would release goods from Mombasa and although we could track the whereabouts of the trailers, we could not tell exactly what was happening inside the vehicles,” he says.
Two of his trailers were twice detained on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway after the crews were arrested for carrying counterfeit goods picked in Naivasha.
In another incident in 2011, his trailer was arrested at Makindu on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway for carrying, in addition to counterfeit goods, 40 litres of chang’aa.
“The driver had delivered goods safely to Nairobi but during the overnight stay in Mlolongo, the illegal goods were loaded onto the lorry. Today, nothing like that can happen to my vehicles,” says Mr Bura.
He adopted the technology to reduce the cost of theft, either by servant or by highway robbers.
“A comparative analysis of income for trailers with the system is normally 40 per cent in about six months,’ he says.
“The most immediate petty crime this system kills is the pilferage of petrol and diesel along the highways by rogue drivers and turn boys,” Mr Bura told DN2 in Mlolongo, adding, “It has reduced incidents of theft of goods in transit by almost a 100 per cent.”
Most of the companies buying the system are doing it in phases, perhaps to gauge its value addition to income figures or because of the cost of installing them.
Spytrack & Surveillance Managing Director Mr Anderson Kathendu says it costs Sh65,000 to install the whole system in an ordinary vehicle and Sh95,000 to have four cameras placed at strategic points on a bus.
The MD says the cameras transmit real-time videos to the owner’s mobile phone, which can be accessed via a password. “The digital video recorder (DVR) automatically records the video on secure device (SD) cards and transmits them to servers from where users can view the vehicles and their location on a map,” explains Mr Kathendu. The normal storage capacity for the SD card is 64 GB.
He says that when a vehicle is fitted with four cameras, it is possible to record actvities within a 20 metre radius, in front of, and behind, it.
Experts in the industry say the technology will curb rogue driving and theft of transit goods because drivers will be aware that it will be difficult to make any claims after driving carelessly.
The managing director of Magnate Insurance Agencies, Mr Danson Ngotho, says the system can cut claims incurred by insurance firms by almost half.
“Statistics show that for every three claims touching on accidents and vehicle thefts, one is founded on falsehoods or falsified information. With cameras, it means investigations will be easier and faster,” says Mr Ngotho.
He adds that the system is likely to be embraced due to its immediate impact on the compensation given to PSV owners.
“Reckless driving has caused many insurers to close shop. Those who lobby for such monitoring systems will reap benefits immediately,” he says.
Mr Ngotho says that it might soon be difficult to insure vehicles that are not fitted with a comprehensive surveillance system.
Last Saturday, Mr Kimutai of Matatu Owners’ Association said the matatu industry was adopting modern technology to make it a safe investment environment.
“The security of the passengers and vehicles are paramount. We are gradually accepting value addition that can cut costs and still increase earnings to our businesses,” he said.
