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Sure, Dar needs better commuter transport system
2006-06-25 09:42:44
By Editor
Any news about the improvement of commuter transport in Dar es Salaam is sweet to the ears of the people and visitors of the country’s commercial capital city.
Teeming with people numbering slightly over three million, and having the biggest concentration of administrative, trading, industrial, recreational and lots of other activities, Dar es Salaam and its environs have, ideally, to be served by an efficient network that facilitates smooth movement of people and goods.
On the contrary, however, the present transport system is woefully inadequate and is characterized by a myriad of problems that erode its credibility as the premier urban centre in the country.
The system, featuring, mainly, daladala buses, is virtually a necessary devil that the people have literally grown accustomed to love, for lack of a better alternative.
Particularly irksome is the fact that many commuters are not only compelled to ride in rickety, overcrowded buses.
They also have to endure the recklessness of drivers and the uncouth behaviour of the crew, who literally manufacture insults, lack the humane touch, especially where pupils are concerned, and seem to be always itching for a fight.
Many drivers have also acquired a king-of-the-road sort of mentality that places them perpetually at loggerheads with other motorists.
It is understandable, therefore, why whenever mention is made of improvement of the current system, or replacing it with another one, the people’s ears pick it as most welcome news and their faces brighten up with expectations.
But some weariness has over time set in, due to the references being a mere theoretical ideal that is never actualized.
We have lately been treated to news of an envisaged rapid transport system for Dar es Salaam. We earnestly hope that this time, it will be coupled with action.
For the benefits of a smooth, efficient commuter transport system go beyond making the commuters happy; ultimately, economic, social, commercial, recreational and other sectors benefit.
But imperfect though the present system is, which won’t, in any case, be phased out entirely, but part of which would operate with the new one in complementary terms, it has ’’bad lessons’’ that should form a basis for perfecting the envisaged one.
It would also be helpful to revisit the earlier era of the city bus transport system, UDA, and pick lessons from there too, on what can be infused into what is being planned, and what should be avoided.
Put simply, history offers lessons we shouldn’t ignore, in our bid to make Dar es Salaam a commuter transport paradise.
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