How to book and ride with SWVL matatu buses using your mobile phone

SWVL shuttle buses have been operational in several parts of the city on beta test for months until the service was officially launched and introduced to more routes within the Nairobi city. The idea behind SWVL matatus is to revolutionize the public transport sector with efficient and reliable means of transportation that only requires commuters to book via the official app and wait for their rides to arrive at designated bus stops at a pre-specified time.

In comparison to online taxis such as little cab and Uber, SWVL buses are way affordable and several commuters can book the same bus provided there’s available seats. Buses are designated to be at specific pick-up point at a particular time and commuters are expected to be at these pick-up station prior to the bus’s arrival.

While officially launching the service across Nairobi, SWVL co-founder and CEO, Mostafa Kandil acknowledged the need for a stable solution to perennial traffic snarl ups here in Kenya and hoped that SWVL would be a formidable solution. He also added that SWVL would be of great benefit to the local consumer and the transport sector as a whole. “We are very excited to provide a solution that makes the lives of Kenyans easier whilst proving beneficial to the Kenyan transport sector,” he added.

Besides the additional funding the firm was injecting in the Kenyan market, Mostafa announced additional routes for the service, stretching beyond the initial four routes that were operational since entering the Kenyan market. Ever since, SWVL has increased routes covered by its services to fifty-five routes. They are now due to add more routes to cover more areas in Nairobi, as well as begin operations outside the capital city.

SWVL General Manager for Kenya Shivachi Muleji also pointed out the potential for growth and value creation in the country was tremendous and given the different entities providing varied solutions, he believes SWVL would fill a gap that has yet to be sufficiently covered by what is already available.

how to book and ride with SWVL matatu buses using your mobile phone

  • First, you’ll need to have a data enabled smartphone either running on android or an iPhone
  • If you’re using an iPhone, make sure you have iOS 9.0 or above installed while those with android devices need to have version 4.4 or later
  • Download the app from app store for iPhone and play store for android
  • Once the app has been installed, open the app and input required details
  • To book, choose your preferred pick-up point followed your drop-off point then time
  • You’ll be presented with the map of your route and proceed
  • Then you’ll see the amount to be paid and on the right side, you can select the number of seats you intent to book
  • Confirm by tapping on “Book”
  • You’ll see a confirmation with driver details and a boarding pass number
  • After you’ve successfully booked, you may cancel within four hours without incurring additional charges.

3 COMMENTS

  1. I wish to postpone my journey due to unavoidable circumstances to 18th December.How do I go about it and are there additional charges?

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