Tuktuk transport has been gaining foot in Kiganjo estate as the third most popular means of transport after matatus and bodabodas in the past few months.
A number of travellers going to and from Thika town are now increasingly using tuktuks to reach their destinations, a trend that has been partly attributed to continued lowering of oil prices.
Stephen Mwangi, a tuktuk operator who has been ferrying passengers from Thika town to Kiganjo since October last year says that low oil prices have opened up new opportunities for them.
"Our tuktuk business is usually concentrated within the town and the adjacent estates. However, since the oil prices started to go down you find that you can take passengers to a far estate and manage to save something good for yourself. Before then it was hard," said Mwangi on Wednesday in Kiganjo.
A tuktuk travelling to Kiganjo from Thika town and vice versa will charge Sh40 while matatus charge Sh30.
"With their small capacity of three passengers, they fill faster and saves me time especially in the morning when am going to work. They don't go stopping at every stage as matatus do as they carry express passengers. I prefer them nowadays," Alexander Kinuthia, a Kiganjo resident says.
However, the tuktuk operators who have taken the new challenge says that the road network connecting the 'new market' is not so good for tuktuk transport.
"The road from town to Kiganjo is full of potholes which makes riding a tuktuk to Kiganjo a nightmare. We, however, hope that the ongoing road repairs and expansions across the town will help the situation," said Jamlick Mwobe, another tuktuk operator.