Trial runs for the Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) begin today with two buses that will have a driver but no conductor and, instead, an electronic payment system being used.
Today’s trials will run along the Morogoro road running from Kimara to Kivukoni ahead of the planned full launch in early October.
Today’s launch, according to the Director of UDA Rapid Transit Company (UDART) Sabri Mabrouk, will go together with official opening of a special drivers’ training who will commandeer a fleet of 76 modern buses along the new BRT.
“The interim service begins today with two modern buses plying between Kimara and Kivukoni area,” he announced yesterday in the city.
“The service is part of ongoing public sensitisation programmes that will run for one month,” Mabrouk added noting that the driver’s training will be handled by the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA) in collaboration with Chinese tutors. “Other buses will come between this month and September,” he detailed.
He said for the trial runs the BRT buses will only use ten selected bus stations out of the BRT’s 21 bus stations.
“They will be carrying between 140 and 150 passengers each,” he added and put emphasis on the fact that the buses will have drivers only operating with no conductors.
“We don’t need conductors…tickets will be issued through an electronic system where every passenger shall have a bus fare card that they will swipe to pay as they enter the bus,” he explained.
As for the amount of fare, he admitted that the rates have not being set as yet citing that the task lies in the hands of the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA).
Highlighting challenges, Mabrouk said the total number of drivers required for the project is 400 but so far only 130 have been recruited, leaving the authorities only one month to recruit and train another270 drivers.
The BRT system is expected to become the core public transport provider in the city, consisting of trunk buses operating on exclusive bus-ways that run at the centre of major roads.
The project includes construction of a 20.9 kilometre special trunk road from the Kimara terminal to Kivukoni area then on to the Msimbazi road from Fire to Kariakoo-Gerezani area and also incorporates part of Kawawa Road from Magomeni to the busy Morocco junction.
Phase 1A of the project covers Kimara to Kivukoni, phase 1B Morocco to Magomeni and then from Magomeni to the Kigogo area. It is expected to transport between 300,000 and 350,000 passengers every day.
Upon completion of the first phase, at least 140 commuter buses, known as ‘daladalas,’ will be deregistered from operating in the city centre, restricting them to the suburbs.
Traffic jams are notorious and eat up to 20 per cent of annual business profits, according to a Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) study.
Estimates made by DART in 2010 show that about 4bn/- (USD 2.5 million) was being lost daily in the city in terms of decreased productivity, wasted fuel and late delivery of products as a result of traffic jams.
In April this year, the government through DART entered into an agreement with UDA Rapid Transit Company to help it run the BRT project on a temporary basis. Under the inked two-year agreement, UDA Rapid Transit Company will purchase and run a fleet of 76 modern buses to operate the BRT project.
It is expected that the City will have 11.5 million people by 2025 and hence a need to improve the infrastructure.
The BRT project is financed by the World Bank and the government at a cost of more than 400bn/- and covers construction of roads, main terminals, depots and feeder stations.
The Guardian
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