Love them or hate them - Matatus (the public transport system in Kenya) are here to stay. Matatus have become notorious for the poor manner they are driven and managed causing hundreds of deaths of passengers each year on Kenyan roads and for surviving passengers, they get an earful of choice insults, arbitrary fare hikes and ear splitting music from the boom speakers. The government seems unable to rein in the matatus and perhaps the most effective way to control them is through the power of the people that actually use them and pay for them.

Not all matatus fit the archetype described above; so what if passengers could rate them in real time, giving a thumbs-up to those that work well while shaming those that are a nightmare for the passengers? That is what My Ride is all about. My Ride is a mobile phone based app that allows passengers inside matatus to rate them in real time (sort of a tweeter for matatu passengers). Using the registration number of the matatu as a hashtag they can then share their experiences while connecting with each other.

My ride is also a great management and enforcement tool because for each matatu, it creates a log of conversations which are accessible to police, the National Transport Safety Authority and the owner of the matatu, thus increasing the accountability of the matatu crew.

Our goal is to facilitate conversation and bring to the fore, voices the passengers that are often ignored and help bring safety and comfort to the Kenyan public transport system..