About Us

Ma3Route is a mobile/web/SMS platform that crowd-sources for transport data and provides users with information on traffic, matatu directions and driving reports. Ma3Route aims to make traveling easier in developing countries by democratizing timely transport information. We hope to bring greater sanity to the roads and inform city planning and transport regulation in emerging economies through the provision of transport data and trend analysis.

Ma3Route simply means Matatu Route. Matatu refers to public transport minibuses in Nairobi. "Tatu" is the swahili word for "Three". Matatu is MaThree in Sheng. Sheng is a Swahili-based cant, perhaps a mixed language or creole, originating among the urban dwellers of Nairobi, Kenya, and influenced by many of the languages spoken here. For those who do not know, the public transport minibuses got the "three" in their name in the 1960s when three cents was the typical fare.

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