Thursday, October 26, 2017

Faith Khakai works as a motorcycle taxi driver in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi


The motorcycle taxis that zip passengers through the city’s choking traffic are widely loathed for their daredevil antics. They weave through small gaps, cut off drivers and buzz through traffic jams. Known as boda bodas, they have some of the highest motor fatality rates.

she settled on the job for the same reason most men do: It is something an unskilled person can easily learn in a job that is not regulated, and with four children to support, and because the money her husband earned as a motorcycle courier was not enough to support the family, she took on the culturally impossible job that both her family and tribe would be outraged about. 

But... she makes nearly $8 a day, exceeding the minimum wage of $132 a month, and passengers trust her, because they know they will be able to find her again.

In 2016, the National Traffic Safety Authority passed regulations that boda boda drivers must carry two reflector jackets and two yellow helmets. The regulations were ignored. A year ago, then-Nairobi Gov. Evans Kidero banned boda boda operators from downtown Nairobi, a law they also disregarded.

http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-kenya-female-bodaboda-20171010-story.html

update Jan 2019: riders are getting into costumes to attract attention and get more fares https://www.lensculture.com/projects/399645-boda-boda-madness

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