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In June, 2016, Tanzania officially put its BRT system into operation, marking a new milestone in the country’s public transportation history. From Uda buses in 1970s to Cahai Mahara Ge Waggons in 1990s, from Bodaboda and Tuktuk, two public transport means in early 21st century to the current BRT, Tanzania has witnessed fast progress in its public transport sector.
Golden Dragon Bus Received a Warm Welcome from Tanzanian People
To encourage more people to choose BRT, Tanzanian government recently launched a BRT Promotion Campaign, which allowed the public to take BRT buses for free in one week. Samia Suluhu Hassan, Vice President of Tanzania, together with a number of senators from the government also took Golden Dragon BRT buses. According to local media, BRT buses had been packed with passengers during the promotion week.
Samia Suluhu Hassan, Vice President of Tanzania, took Golden Dragon BRT Bus
The BRT Promotion Campaign also attracted international media attention. The UK-based BBC and China-based CCTV both filed detailed reports, showing people in Tanzania are taking to the new public transport means. Golden Dragon BRT buses are of two versions in Tanzania. One is measuring 18 meters in length, which can hold 150 passengers while the other is 12 meters long and is able to load 80 passengers.
In Dares Salaam, the capital city of Tanzania, the public transport used to be horrible. According to Hu Hui, Manager of Golden Dragon East & South African Region, “Sometimes it took over three hours for our sales personnel to visit a customer in the same city. ” To change the dire situation, Tanzanian government held a global bidding and in the end it chose to purchase 138 units Golden Dragon buses, including 100 units 12-meter BRT buses and 38 units 18-meter BRT buses.
Along with the operation of Golden Dragon buses on the BRT system in Dares Salaam, people have been reaping substantial benefits with their commuting time being cut tremendously. Thanks to the BRT, people also enjoy more mobility, which give a further boost to the local economic development. In just one month, people in Dares Salaam have obviously got used to Golden Dragon buses. With tidy and spacious interior and helpful bus drivers, traveling with Golden Dragon BRT buses has become such a pleasant experience for local people.
Despite the huge positive changes brought by BRT to the lives of local people, much work is still to be done to improve the local power facilities and educate people to comply with traffic regulations.