Latra acts on night bus travel irregularities

Dar es Salaam. The Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra) has barred 36 buses from operating 24 hours indefinitely after violating regulations.

The buses have been banned due to speeding, failure to make use of the electronic ticketing system (E-ticketing), and after their drivers interfered with the Vehicle Tracking System (VTS).

“Our evaluation has discovered that more than 98 percent of buses that use the electronic ticket system did not correctly enter the passengers’ information. As such, they did not include passenger names on the manifest at the departure stations,” Latra’s Director General Habibu Suluo said yesterday.

The shortfalls, he said, were identified during a review of the 24-hour operating system for the period between October 1 and November 6, 2023.

“Since the government granted permission for upcountry buses to operate for 24 hours, we have issued licences to 246 buses. Out of that number, 197 buses, manned by the equivalence of 80 percent of bus drivers, drive at a speed between 86 and 89 kilometres per hour. Nine (9) percent drive at a speed between 90 and 103 kilometres per hour,” he said.

Mr Suluo said Latra and the Tanzania Police Force have taken various measures, including penalising a total of 666 bus drivers, while 32 have been arraigned before the court.

Mr Suluo noted that next month (December), they plan to come up with an automatic fine system whereby any upcountry driver who violates the law will be fined immediately and will be required to pay through a control number. “Currently, we are having some conversations with the Tanzania Police Force and the Tanzania Bus Owners Association (Taboa) to see how to collect these fines. The fine is up to Sh1 million,” he said.

He said the response of upcountry buses to operate 24 hours has been great, noting, however, that the violations of the law were huge.

The Commander of the Traffic Police Force, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SACP), Ramadhani Ng’anzi, said bus drivers who have been banned from operating will be given a second chance to apply for the licence. He said since the buses started operating 24 hours, no serious accidents have occurred, but that there were only a few challenges that were caused by unprofessional drivers. “We have the names of bus drivers who have been speeding and violating traffic rules. We will continue to expose the names of bus drivers because we do not want innocent people to lose their lives. We have no compromise when it comes to the safety of the passengers,” he said.

He noted that by collaborating with Latra and other security organs, they will continue to ban bus drivers and operators who violate the traffic rules.

Taboa secretary general Priscus Joseph said that it was disappointing to see bus drivers violating traffic laws.

“It is disappointing to see some drivers violate the law and traffic rules. For the past five years, we have been longing to operate 24 hours and the government granted us permission to urge drivers and bus owners to abide by the traffic laws,” he said.