One of the activities to do in Dar es salaam.
Make sure you use a transost of Dar es salaam bus rapid transit also know as MWENDOKASI.
It is one of amazing experience ever.
Overview
Dar es Salaam bus rapid transit is a bus rapid transit system that began operations on 10 May 2016 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The transit system consists of 6 phases and the construction of the first phase began in April 2012 by the Austrian construction company Strabag International GmbH.
Construction of the first phase was completed in December 2015 at a total cost of €134 million funded by the African Development Bank, World Bank and the Government of Tanzania.
The first phase of the project has a total length of 21.1 kilometers with dedicated bus lanes on three trunk routes with a total of 29 stations.
The entire system is operated by The Usafiri salama Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (UDA-RT) under the surveillance of the Surface and Marine Transport regulatory authority (Sumatra)
Currently, the route is serviced by a fleet of 140 Chinese built Golden Dragon buses, providing express and local service for 18 hours daily from 05:00am to 11:00pm.
.
History
With the rapidly growing population of the city, the government began to draw plans for a rapid transit system in 2003. The government predicted the city population to grow over 5 million by 2015 and invited the Japan International Cooperation Agency to design a master plan for transport in the city in June 2008.
A bus rapid transit and a metro transit system were proposed but the metro system was not approved due to the high construction and operational cost involved. The project was placed under the Prime Minister's office and a Dar Rapid Transit Agency (DART) was created through a government notice on 25 May 2007.
A 130 km bus rapid transit was planned to cover over 90% of the city's population and the project was split into six phases due to the large investment required.
The initial project cost was financed by the world bank and the bank provided $180 million for the construction of the first phase.
Phase I
Phase I of the BRT system runs for 21 km from Kimara to Ubungo ending at Kivukoni/Morocco.
Construction of the first phase began in April 2012 and was completed in December 2015 by Strabag international GmbH.
The route is designed to carry 300,000 commuters daily along 29 stations. The route consists of 21 km of trunk road, 57.9 km of feeder roads, 5 large terminals and 29 stations.
The route was placed under interim operations on 24 April 2015 and was fully operational on 10 May 2016, after the fares were decided.
Phase II
Funds for the Second phase were secured in October 2015. The second phase is to run for approximately 19 km from Kilwa to Kawawa south via Kivukoni and is to cost around $160 million.
The African Development Bank agreed to fund $141 million for the project, while the remaining funds will come from the government. Construction for the project is due to begin in June 2019 and will take approximately 36 months to complete.
Construction of the road will include two flyovers as well. The 20.3 km DART project will commence at Gerezani & City Council BRT station. Which will include Kilwa Road, Chang’ombe Road, Kawawa Road, Gerezani Street, Sokoine Drive and Bandari Road. It will be ready by Dec 2020.
Phase III
Funding for the 3rd phase was provided by the International Development Association (IDA). The construction will take place from Gongo La Mboto to City Center, including part of Uhuru Road from Tazara all the way to Kariakoo-Gerezani. construction is set to begin in 2021.
Phase IV along Bagamoyo Road and Sam Nujoma Road: 16.1 km
Phase V along Mandela Road: 22.8 km
Phase VI along Old Bagamoyo Road: 27.6 km
