Transport in megacities like Dar es Salaam is always going to be a challenge – made worse when the cities are ports with only a few main roads out.  Since the late 1980s the majority of commuters in the city have travelled in overloaded daladalas, small buses owned by individuals or small companies and operated by informal workers. With funding from the World Bank, to the tune of over 290m USD, Dar es Salaam embarked on Bus Rapid Transit, a huge project to bring in state of the art bendy buses on exclusive lanes, and to relegate daladalas to the outskirts of the city. Bus Rapid Transit has implied a huge investment in transport infrastructure, including the widening of the city’s main roads. Drawing on fieldwork, this seminar will explore the political and economic interests behind the Bus Rapid Transit project, and how a number of Tanzanian actors are to be affected, and in turn attempt to affect, the project.

Chair: Andrew Coulston (Britain-Tanzania Society)

Series: Africa Seminar series

This event is organised in collaboration with the Britain-Tanzania Society.

For more information and to reserve a place please contact cas@soas.ac.uk.