Africa-Press – Tanzania. DAR ES SALAAM commuters will now breathe a sigh of relief after the Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit Agency (DART) added new 70 buses as the government looks to end transport woes in the city.
The busses were handed over by DART to its operator and put into operation effective yesterday. DART Acting Director for Operational and Infrastructure Management, Mr Philemon Mzee told reporters that the buses were imported into the country in 2018, but had since remained stranded at the port because of miscommunication between Usafiri Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (UDART) – the company that runs the buses – and the government.
“Each of the bus has the capacity of transporting 155 passengers. We will then have 210 buses plying the city’s special lanes,” he noted.
The buses began operations yesterday.
Mr Mzee said the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) phase I was supposed to have 305 buses and 11 routes, but it operated with only 140 buses. Therefore, the 70 buses enable an increased number of routes and efficiency.
According to Mr Mzee, as the number of buses increases, the operator will open up other routes including Mwenge to Morocco, Magomeni to Kigogo via Ubungo, Magomeni Kanisani to Mtogole via Sinza, Morocco to Kawe and Morocco to Masaki.
On the buses that were grounded because of mechanical problems, he said UDART has continued to repair them and their role is to make sure the operator provides adequate services.
In 2017, UDART suffered a heavy blow when over 30 buses were grounded when the firm’s major terminal was flooded by heavy rains at Jangwani.
The sudden setback almost brought UDART to its knees. A similar setback recurred in 2018, causing more damage to operational buses, which reduced the number of buses to 110 against the required 305 vehicles. The first phase, BRT, runs on a 21-kilometre lane from Kimara to Ubungo and proceeds to Kivukoni and Morocco.
They completed the construction of the first phase in 2015. During his tour of BRT facilities in April this year, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa expressed his concern about the misuse of assets meant for the project. He said that the number of buses plying BRT routes had dropped from 140 to only 85 in the last few years, making it difficult for the project to end Dar es Salaam’s transport woes, as was initially envisaged.
On May 24, 2021 Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Ms Ummy Mwalimu, during her tour at Jangwani depot said that the government was aware that the crowding of commuters at stations was a result of the low number of buses plying BRT routes.
“Each bus carries an average of 200 passengers, more than the required maximum capacity of 120,” she said.
