It’s been a rough ride for Udart

Dar es Salaam. Commuters using the Usafiri Rapid Transit (Udart) buses, which ply between their residences and city centre, had to endure a lot of problems whenever it rained.

Hundreds of households were displaced following floods that ravaged houses and infrastructure around the Jangwani river.

The main Jangwani Bus depot was also hit hard because of the floods, triggering cancellation of transport services several times.

During rainy season various parts of the city - including the Kimara and Morocco, experienced tough times as people had to fight for alternative transport services in order to reach their work stations. Apart from the weather vagaries, shortage buses caused was also blamed for massive disruption of transport in the over 5 million people city.

The first phase of the project was supposed to have 305 buses in operation, but unfortunately there are 140 buses only, much to the dismay of the public.

After realising the challenges that their customers were going through, in February, this year, Udart purchased new 70 BRT buses at $200,000 to improve their operations.

The operator was also planning to buy 95 buses more to reach the required number in the first phase, however, the procurement was to no avail as 70 buses are still at the Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) over tax issues.

The smart cards issues was cited as another challenging issue following the sale of 200,000 smarts cards sold to commuters. Only 50,000 cards were seen in the system, which shows that only 30 per cent commuters possessed them.

Besides, drivers strike over unpaid two-month salaries grabbed headlines and caused massive disruption of transport service in the city with thousands of people going to their work stations on foot.

Some commuters were seen stranded at Ubungo Maziwa, Morroco, Gerezani, Mbezi bus stations while others looked helpless and tired after waiting for the busses for a long time.

Speaking with The Citizen asked the government and Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit to improve services or bring in more buses in order to ease transportation.

They said that the government should not have phased out ordinary buses plying between Mbezi and Kariako and other parts of the city to help reduce time spent on the BRT station.

“We applaud the government for introducing this rapid transport service because it is fast compared to the busses we used to board. However, it has become chaotic because of the number of available busses compared to the ever rising demand,” they said.

A resident of Ubungo, Ms Mwanahawa Saidi, 33, looking desperate, said she arrived at Ubungo Maziwa since 10:30 am, but all buses were passing without picking passengers.

She said it was even more disappointing when it rains to see the bus operator suspending services, calling on the government to address the challenge.

“We believe that the government has already identified the problem at Jangwani and hopefully they are already working on it. We are really suffering because whenever it rains there transport is cut off,” she said.

Reports from Udart, show that since the beginning of this year, the operator suspended its operation five times

Following the frequent transport disruptions, the Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Mr Paul Makonda, expressed his dissatisfaction on how Udart was running it services.

Apart from the outspoken RC, the minister for state in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Mr Suleiman Jafo,briefed the media that President John Magufuli had already sacked Dart managing director Ronald Lwakatare over problems facing the BRT project. Dart public relation manager William Gatambi told The Citizen via telephone that so far the BRT project had 140 buses because they were still looking for a second operator to bring in additional buses.

“The operator started with 140 buses because it was an interim period, but we are finalising the process of getting the second operator, who will come with 165 buses,” he said.

Mr Gatambi said they intend to rope in the second operator by March next year, adding that once the operator start operations, they will increase more feeder routers. The routes that would be increased include Ubungo Maziwa-Magomeni, Sinza Kijiweni-Magomeni, Kawe-Morocco, Mwinjuma- Mwanamboka, Mwenge-University of Dar es Salaam, Mwai Kibaki-Morogoro road, Masaki-Morocco.

According to him, currently, there were two feeders routes only, namely Muhimbili- Gerezani Kariakoo, Mbezi –Kimara.

Mr Gatambi also noted that Udart was considering changing the modality of charging the access fees from a fixed rate of Sh8.1 million per day to a sum that will depend on the number of kilometres covered per day.

When The Citizen contacted Dart head of communications department Deus Bugaywa to find out if the buses 70 buses they purchased were still at the port, he declined to comment, but said briefly “this business is very complex”.

He later added: “It is better you ask the responsible authorities because the matter is already being discussed by top government officials,” he said.

According to him, before the end of December, Udart will release its operation overview and way forward.

Earlier, Dart chief executive officer Ronald Lwakatare said they were working hard to ensure that some damaged buses were repaired in order to reduce ease transport in the city.

“The recent rains caused damages to several buses, which is normal, but we are working around the clock to ensure that all buses are back on the roads,” he said.

In July, a delegation of six people from Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LMATA) visited BRT offices to see how they can collaborate in improving transport services.

The authority’s deputy director for transport safety, Mr Olanjiade Oduyoye, said as a continent, they think it was important to learn from each other on issues of land, integration, driving and safety.

“ Nigeria was the fourth country in Africa to implement the BRT system, but has never won an international award… we might think we are doing better, but Dar es Salaam is better than us and that could the reason it won the award,” he said.

A month earlier, Mr Jaffo told The Citizen that they intend to use part of Sh660 billion Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Projects (DMP) funds to improve the Jangwani station to avoid further losses. According to him, they were conducting a feasibility study to identify the causes floods at Jangwani garage station, adding that the government will set up a good drainage system in the area, which will see water flowing directly to the ocean.

Mr Jaffo said they would use part of the DMP funds to improve Jangwani parking area instead of acquiring another land to construct the multimillion garage.

It was found in 2013 that Tanzania loses Sh4 billion daily due to traffic congestion. The World Bank’s Vice-President for Africa, Mr Makhtar Diop, said the Dart project is not only a strategy to improving transport infrastructure, but most importantly delivery of quality services to the people.