Press Release
U.S. officials tour Dar Rapid Transport planned facilities
August 31, 2009
On Friday, August 28, three U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) officials toured Dar Rapid Transport (DART), an agency charged with establishing and operating the new Bus Rapid Transit system for Dar es Salaam. Ronald Boenau, Kay Nordstrom, and Michael Gordon from DOT’s Federal Transit Administration were briefed on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system design and operation.
DART representatives gave the visiting DOT officials information about conceptual plan, detail design and operational aspects of the Bus Rapid Transit System. The DOT team made a site visit to Phase I corridor which will include areas such as Kimara Terminal, Ubungo and Kivukoni. The DOT team was part of the workshop in Arusha on “Development Sustainable Transportation Solution” organized by the U.S. Department of Transportation. During the workshop, DART was invited to make presentations on “Relieving Urban Congestion, Examples of Successful Projects in Africa”.
The visit of the U.S. team to DART Agency is a result of the project identified by the United Nations as a good example for urban transport in Africa. Early this year, three top DART officials, including Cosmas Takule, DART Chief Executive Officer, Enoch Kitandu, Director of Systems and Operation, and Peter Munuo, DART Operations Manager, participated in a two-day Voluntary Visitor’s Program on “Bus Rapid Transit Systems” in the U.S. city of Miami, Florida. The Voluntary Visitor Program is implemented by the U.S. Department of State on behalf of the American people. Its goal is to facilitate personal and professional contacts between the people of the United States and the people of Tanzania.
Miami was chosen for this two-day professional program because of its well-planned and extensive “BusWay” transit line. Miami BusWay is the United States' longest bus rapid transit line.