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Tanzania seeks investors to help build control centre

Saturday October 25 2014
BRT

Construction of a Bus Rapid Transit road. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Tanzania is seeking foreign and local contractors to put up a control centre to support the operations of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. Dar es Salaam’s BRT is currently under construction.

BRT is a bus-based mass transit system that aims to combine the capacity and speed of light rail with the flexibility, lower cost and simplicity of a bus system.

According to Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (DART) engineer Serpion Tigahwa, the world-class facility, whose construction is expected to begin in January, will improve business efficiency and monitor buses that are on the road.

“With the advances in technology, we have decided to introduce the system to help boost the country’s economy and increase revenue collection,” he said.

DART engineer John Shauri said they have issued a tender for construction of the multi-storey building with 15 floors, 60 parking lots and 1,398 square metres of a pedestrian lobby. Mr Shauri said the centre will comprises a complex of 9,020 square metres of office space, shopping malls, banking halls, and feeder station restaurants as well as 2,860 square metres of associated services.

At least Tsh411 billion ($250 million) in revenue is lost annually through Dar es Salaam’s chronic traffic jams, with commuter bus (dala dala) owners being the biggest losers.

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According to studies by the Confederation of Tanzania Industries, traffic jams are costing businesses more than 20 per cent of annual profits. Dar es Salaam drivers spend an average of four hours on the roads every day; the completion of the BRT and the control centre will reduce the time to one hour.

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