Increased and sometimes exorbitant matatu fares have seen Nairobi commuters device a new means of survival.
Realising that embracing the new figures could work deep into their monthly budgets, the residents have decided to collectively boycott manipulative saccos that ask for far too high fares.
In the evenings when matatu saccos want to make a kill from the fares, you will find the would-be passengers clustered at bus stations waiting for the fares to go down even though the touts continue to call towards their empty matatus.
"We do not board the matatus until the fares come down. Sometimes this means a delay in getting to our families but that is it. We are not boarding," says Lilian Atieno, a resident of Mathare and mother of two.
Similarly, the commuters have resorted to walking back home from work as a way of cutting on the transport costs.
"I always leave Kibera to town very early in the morning when the fare is Sh20. That is around 4am. In the evening, I walk back home because I have no hurry," says Andrew Ochiel, a Kibera resident.
Matatu operators say the trend is already taking toll on their business since it is now delaying the normal times their businesses stopped.
"Earlier we used to clear the passengers by aroud 8:30 p.m. from town but now we stretch to about 9:30 p.m since most of them remain there waiting for fares to go down," says Sam Nyambega, a Pipeline-Town bus conductor.
However, he says there are no hopes of the passengers winning it.
"We feel for the passengers but there is nothing we can do. With the fuel prices hiked, there is no way the fares will come down until the day fuel costs go down," he added.