Rapid Transit collections rise to Sh125 million per day

Dar es Salaam. The amount collected through fares on Dar es Salaam’s bus rapid transit (BRT) routes has increased by 67 percent in the past few weeks, thanks to the adoption of a new fare collection mechanism.

With the Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS), BRT operator Udart is now collecting an average of Sh3 billion per month, up from an average of Sh1.8 billion per month a few months ago, Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit Agency (Dart) chief executive Edwin Mhede said at the weekend.

AFCS is a generic term for ticketing system in public transport where the fare is no longer paid directly but via ticket vending machines, online service or other methods. In practice AFCS is the default fare collection method in any modern public transport system.

Briefing members of the Parliament’s Administration and Local Governments Affairs’ Committee, Dr Mhede said before adoption of the system, they used to collect an average of between Sh70 million and Sh80 million per day.

“With the system in place, we are now collecting an average of between Sh100 million and Sh125 million per day, depending on the number of commuters who use our services,” he said.

He said the task of installing AFCS started as a pilot project in July last year.

During that time, the system was installed only on two of Dart’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stations.

“As of April 22, 2022, the machines were officially installed in all major routes from Kivukoni to Kimara and even in feeder and trunk routes thus boosting fare collection,” he said.

The chairman of Parliament’s Administration and Local Governments Affairs’ Committee, Mr Abdallah Chaurembo, directed Dart and Udart to consider extending their services to Mbagala during the coming Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair which is normally held in July.

He further urged Udart to come up with a detailed report on how they operate and challenges they face and in order for the government see how it could help them.

A member of the committee, Ms Margaret Sitta, applauded Dart for the progress reached so far and urged them to speed up the construction of lanes so that the project could be finalised within the specific time.

“It is important to ensure the construction all phases is finalized as early as required and make sure there is value for money because when the project takes long to finish, the costs also increase,” she said.