For those who own personal cars, they may not be aware of the agony that those who rely on passenger service vehicles go through. Apart from the ear-piercing noise in matatu, most of the time passengers have to endure abusive language. Conductors of PSVs are known to be rude. However, not all of them are bad. The story of the matatu conductor who picked and kept a wallet containing Kshs 30,000 and later gave it to the owner is still doing rounds on social media and radio talk shows.Matatu operators are also cunning. They can do virtually anything to attract passengers to board their vehicles.

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Free Wi-Fi

A matatu installed with free Wi-Fi is a favorite to many urban dwellers. This strategy is used to attract those who are technology-savvy. A bigger percentage of urban dwellers are regular users of internet. Many have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. They would therefore prefer to board a matatu offering free Wi-Fi.

Fake passengers

This is the most annoying trick to passengers, especially those who are in a hurry to get to their destinations. You come to the stage and choose a matatu which is almost full only to realize that those inside are fake passengers. After you have stayed for quite a while, all the fake passengers alight and you are left alone or with two or three other passengers. By this time, you have already paid the fare and so you are forced to sit inside and wait for another one hour or so for real passengers.

Low volume is the new cool

For a long time, passengers have complained of loud noise in PSVs.Many are now shunning matatus playing loud music. Matatu operators have come to realize this and now they do not play loud music. Low volume has become the new cool and matatu operators are using this to their advantage. Many matatus have even removed screens and loudspeakers.“

Tao Ndani”

Many matatu operators have realized that many passengers prefer matatus which go direct to town Center without stopping on the way. They therefore use the term “tao ndani” to attract passengers. Trouble starts when they reach a certain stage and decide to transfer passengers to another PSV.At this time, there is nothing much a passenger can do but to board the other vehicle and proceed with his or her journey.