Dar es Salaam. The Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (Dart), the first
public transport mode of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa, will be a
business worth $100million (Sh165.6 billion) a year when its start
operating in June, next year, The Citizen has learnt.
This means all private operators licensed to
operate Dart will be scrambling for $100 million revenue yearly during
the first phase of the project—and the earnings will surge when more
routes are fully completed.
It is not clear how much of this money will go to the government’s coffers in terms of taxes.
In a city with about 95,000 minibuses that operate
recklessly, the current Dart route will enable private operators of
modern passenger buses to ferry an estimated 460,000 people a day.
Based on this number of expected passengers a day,
Dart’s initial assessment of market demand suggests that transport
operators stand to earn a minimum of Sh165.6 billion each year in the
first phase of the project. The earnings of companies will depend on
operational efficiency.
A Dart infrastructure engineer, Mr Moses Nyoni,
said on Monday that a preliminary market demand analysis had shown that
at least 460,000 passengers would be transported each day at a minimum
fare of Sh500 in the first phase of the project.
This implies that if all operators are to charge a
minimum of Sh500, they will jointly collect a total of Sh460 million
per day on a return ticket—translating into a minimum of Sh13.8 billion
each month or a total of Sh165.6 billion each year.
“These charges are fair, given the fact that
currently many Dar es Salaam residents who use commuter buses spend at
least Sh2,000 a day.,” he told delegates at the Metropolitan Lab event
who toured the project on Monday. “We have done market demand analysis
and established that the fare structure is affordable and cost
recoverable.”
Fares range from Sh500 on a normal route but those
seeking connecting routes will pay between Sh700 and Sh900. The first
phase of the project, which will reduce traffic jams in city roads,
includes the 20.9 kilometre busways from Kimara terminal to Kivukoni
area, Msimbazi road from Fire to Kariakoo-Gerezani area and part of
Kawawa Road from Magomeni to Morocco junction, as well as 27 stations,
five terminals and three bus depots.
According to Mr Nyoni, the demand for the services
is projected to rise year after year in line with project development
and reliability of the services offered.
The project will also include a tender for
procurement of buses with unique specifications, construction of three
depots at Ubungo, Jangwani and Kariakoo, tender for collection of fares
and collection of extra revenue from the shopping centres at the
terminals and depots.
The Dart chief executive officer, Ms Asteria
Mlambo, said they are set to announce an interim tender for service
providers no later than the end of this year
No comments:
Post a Comment