Kenya plans virtual weigh stations to boost efficiency

The government has lately stepped up the crackdown on overloaded vehicles in an attempt to tame rising road maintenance costs. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NMG 

By ALLAN ODHIAMBO

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Summary

• The electronic devices will be located at Archers Post on the Isiolo-Moyale road, Sagana Bridge on the Thika-Nyeri road, Yatta on the Thika-Garissa road, Kamulu on the Nairobi-Kangundo road and Eldama Ravine on the Eldama Ravine-Eldoret road.
• Others will be at Kibera on the Nairobi Southern By-pass, Moi’s Bridge on the Eldoret-Kitale road, Mayoni on the Mumias-Bungoma road, Ahero on the Mau Summit-Kisumu road and Mwatate on the Voi-Taveta road.
• Unlike the brick-and-mortar toll stations blamed for congestion and corruption on major roads, the virtual weigh stations are able to pick records in real-time without asking the driver to slow down or stop the vehicle.

Kenya is shifting to virtual weigh-bridges in a bid to boost speed and transparency in the clearance of cargo on its roads.

The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) plans to set up 10 virtual weighbridges on key transport corridors amid ballooning costs of road maintenance and delays in the screening of vehicles.

The electronic devices will be located at Archers Post on the Isiolo-Moyale road, Sagana Bridge on the Thika-Nyeri road, Yatta on the Thika-Garissa road, Kamulu on the Nairobi-Kangundo road and Eldama Ravine on the Eldama Ravine-Eldoret road.

Others will be at Kibera on the Nairobi Southern By-pass, Moi’s Bridge on the Eldoret-Kitale road, Mayoni on the Mumias-Bungoma road, Ahero on the Mau Summit-Kisumu road and Mwatate on the Voi-Taveta road.

Unlike the brick-and-mortar toll stations blamed for congestion and corruption on major roads, the virtual weigh stations are able to pick records in real-time without asking the driver to slow down or stop the vehicle.

The agency says in its tender documents that the virtual weighbridges will be set up and managed by private contractors. “Vehicles shall automatically be weighed and the weighing data transmitted to a central data point for integration.

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‘‘The process is initiated by a vehicle stepping on a weigh-in-motion sensor,” KeNHA said, adding that the weighing data will automatically be recorded and the vehicle’s details captured through a combination of image and automatic number recognition cameras.

Kenya currently uses the statistic scale weigh-bridges to help rid roads of overloaded vehicles. There are nine static weigh-bridges located at Mtwapa, Mariakani, Athi River, Gilgil, Webuye, Rongo, Juja, Busia and Isinya.

The facilities have become synonymous with massive delays and gridlocks, often inviting the wrath of neighbouring landlocked countries which rely on Mombasa port.

It is believed that police officers often take bribes to allow overloaded trucks to proceed with their journey, a habit blamed for high road maintenance costs running into billions of shillings annually.

A notable downside of the static weigh-bridges is the lengthy and strenuous process of attending to each vehicle, which is a major cause of massive traffic gridlocks around the facilities. The roads agency is betting on the digital stations, also known as weigh-in-motion devices, for efficiency to boost regional appeal of Kenya’s roads. “An automated system will be activated whenever a vehicle with beyond threshold overloads is encountered,” KeNHA said.

Random mobile checks

The government has lately stepped up the crackdown on overloaded vehicles in an attempt to tame rising road maintenance costs.

READ: Double taxation for motorists as road toll looms on key highways

Statistics show that Kenya Roads Boards (KRB) in the fiscal year 2015/2016 disbursed Sh29.17 billion for maintenance of roads countrywide, a significant rise from the Sh25 billion disbursed for the year ended June 2015.

Besides the virtual weigh-bridges, KeNHA also targets random mobile checks of vehicle weights along various transport corridors to deal with the menace of overloaded vehicles.

Officials at the Transport and Infrastructure ministry argue that regional landlocked countries’ high dependence on Mombasa port means that the roads are always under pressure even at a lower axle weight.