Tanzania seeks private partner to improve Bus Rapid Transit operations

Dar es Salaam. The minister of State in the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG), Mohammed Mchengerwa, has urged the Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (DART) agency to find a private investor by October 2024 to offer bus services and maintain efficiency.

Mr Mchengerwa delivered the directions while submitting budget estimates for his ministry’s section 56 and section 2 for the Teachers Service Commission to the Parliament Committee on Local Government and Regional Administration in Dodoma.

Read: Dar's BRT phase 2 done, but where are the buses?

“I have informed the DART officials that when they came to brief me on the system we are implementing by October, if they fail to secure an investor from the private sector who will operate this route to ensure the availability of buses, they should submit their resignation letters. We have reached an agreement, and there is no room for negotiation; people demand quality services,” he said.

According to reports, by the end of 2023, the government had completed the construction of infrastructure for the second phase of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT 2), but it was not clear when commuting operations would start on the lanes.

Available information shows that the $159.32 million (Sh285.1 billion) project, which is being implemented by China’s Sinahydro Construction Limited (SCL), has been completed by 98 percent, and it was expected to be handed over to the government in October 2023.

Further reports showed that The Citizen had recently been reliably told that on December 14, 2023, the process for acquiring the buses was currently at the ministerial level. It is at the level of the ministry that Dart will get guidance on the tendering process.

Meanwhile, while emphasising this point, Mchengerwa said that the presence of a private investor in the project would ensure efficient operation and pay taxes to the government, and simultaneously, they would be held accountable if they provided substandard services.

“He will ensure the provision of quality services so that people can be served, and if we introduce enough buses, I assure you that the people of Dar es Salaam will park their cars and use the rapid transit, thus saving over Sh300 billion, which we would have spent on purchasing buses,” he said.

In another development, he said that they expect that between September and October, the government will have acquired enough buses to operate all routes in collaboration with various stakeholders, including the private sector, to ensure the residents of Dar es Salaam are well served before extending the rapid transit service to other cities.

He explained that `they had earlier shelved the decision to purchase 170 buses for the route because the prices presented to them were inflated.

On his part, the Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Denis Londo, commended this decision, stating that it leaves a positive mark on the current Minister due to his innovative approach.

The provision of the BRT system is expected to directly enhance and improve traffic circulation and eliminate bottlenecks to traffic flow to various economic activity centers, such as industrial zones and the vastly populous residential areas of Temeke Municipality.

The proposed project would therefore have a positive impact on informal and formal businesses by providing them with improved accessibility and enhanced roadside air quality.

The BRT 1, which aimed at improving public transportation in Dar es Salaam by constructing a network of dedicated bus lanes, stations, and terminals, started operating in 2016.

It has been operating under interim since then by UDA Rapid Transit with only 270 buses, though it was supposed to operate with 305 buses. Not only that, but so far, out of the current 270 buses, at least a total of 70 need to be fixed.

Following this, in October this year, Dar es Salaam regional Commissioner Albert Chalamila directed UDA Rapid Transit to repair the damaged buses to prevent commuters from being stranded.

He also urged Dart to expedite the procurement of new buses.