Dar BRT to receive 70 buses this week

Commuters throng a bus rapid transit (BRT) station in Dar es Salaam. The severe shortage of buses that has hit the BRT network in recent months is expected to ease this week when 70 buses are put in service. PHOTO | FILE

By Bakari Kiango

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Dar es Salaam. The Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (Dart) system is set for a major boost this week when its operator gets 70 more buses as the government seeks to end commuters’ transport nightmares.

The decision comes within one week after the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Mr Amos Makalla, received the 70 buses from the relevant government bodies so they can be put into service on its exclusive city lanes.

The buses were imported into the country in 2018, but had since remained stranded at Dar es Salaam port due to what was termed “a miscommunication” between Udart - the company the runs the buses - and the government.

Mr John Nguya, the managing director of the Usafari Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (Udart) - the company that currently operates buses on the Dart infrastructure - told The Citizen’s sister paper Mwananchi recently that, until last week, they were in the final stages of checking the buses before putting them on the road.

Inspecting the buses were technical people from the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), the Traffic Police, and the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra.)

“Finally, they will have to agree with Dart before releasing the buses. We expect to use them from next week,” he said - adding that actual deployment will be conducted in phases.

Each of the buses has the capacity of transporting 155 passengers.

With the 70 buses, Udart will then have a total of 210 buses plying the city’s special lanes. In line with the agreement between Udart and Dart, the former is required to deploy 127 buses on the lanes each day to meet the demand for transport services in the city.

Currently, Udart deploys between 115 and 120 buses due to a number of reasons, including the fact that some have technical faults.

It is Udart’s view that, in its planned contract renegotiations, its vehicles will be allowed to use Mbezi Louis as one of its terminals due to the fact that the building of the country’s main up-country bus terminal at Mbezi brings many people to the area who need to be transported to and from their destinations within the commercial capital.