Tanzanians have new buses and KOT can’t cope
Tanzanians are a happy lot after their long-awaited Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit (Dart) kicked off Tuesday with free rides until Thursday.
And envious Kenyans have camped on Twitter to mourn the transformation that is happening of Tanzania while Kenya seems to be mark timing.
After the two free days, commuters on the state-of-the-art will have to pay using specially made cards and barcodes, the two free days has seen the crews tests the electronic billing system.
Meanwhile, commuters will pay a maximum of Tsh800 (Ksh40) on using Dart, a drop from the initial Tsh1200 (Ksh55) proposed by the interim operator.
When the system is fully operational, it will have 76 buses carrying between 80 and 140 passengers each. The Tanzanian government has already constructed 29 bus stations/terminals. The buses will operate for 19 hours every day from 5am.
Construction began in April 2012. An Austrian construction company Strabag International GmbH was awarded the project at a cost of Ksh16 billion (€134 million).
DISAPPOINTMENT
The first phase of the project will cover a length of 21 kilometers on three trunk routes with a total of 29 stations. 10 feeder routes will provide connection to residential areas.
Kenyans and Ugandans took to Twitter to show their disappointment with their respective Government for lagging behind Tanzania.
One Simon Wachira (@simonwachira) wrote, “Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit buses are here as Nairobi dithers with blocked sewers! After Ethiopia, there goes TZ!”
While MeshakM (@mesh1203) Asked Nairobi Governor @KederoEvans, “Dar buses and transport system. As usual you must have plans of similar or better.”
While Joshua Moturi kiky (@kikyjosh) from Uganda Tweeted, “Rapid transit (Dart) buses start operations in Dar Salam Tanzania, in another news 80% of taxis (matatu) in Kampala are classified as DMC (sic).”
Tahakabar Shaheed (@tahak2077) wrote, “Tanzania is on the move as we stagnate in Uganda… I used such buses in Dubai…”
