New bus fare increase to hit travellers in Tanzania this festive season

Dar es Salaam. Commuters and travellers will have to dig deeper into their pockets from this festive season after the land transport regulator raised bus fares across the board.The new fares announced today, November 27, 2023, are in response to rising operating costs among bus owners.The new rates will take effect on December 8 and will see commuting within major urban centres cost between 20 and 30 percent more.Land Transport Regulatory Authority (Latra) director general Habibu Suluo said the adjustments followed proposals submitted by bus operators last month.The minimum commuter fare of Sh500 has gone up to Sh600 and where commuters used to pay Sh550, they will now part with Sh700.Likewise, on routes where commuters were charged Sh600, the new fare is Sh800, while on others it has increased from Sh700 to Sh900.Commuters on routes where the fare was Sh850 will now pay Sh1,100, while those who used to pay Sh1,000 and Sh1,100 will now be charged Sh1,300 and Sh1,400, respectively. The Sh200 fare for primary and secondary school students remains unchanged.Fares for upcountry buses have been raised by 17.39 percent for ordinary buses and 19.27 percent for lower and upper semi-luxury buses.“The fare review has also considered other factors and is not based solely on increases in fuel prices. They include capital costs, operating costs involving vehicle maintenance, changing of tyres, insurance, income tax, council fees and charges, Latra charges and vehicle depreciation,” Mr Suluo said.“Others are vehicle inspection, drivers’ and conductors’ salaries, vehicle occupancy ratio, vehicle use period and the number of days vehicles are put in operation per year, average number of routes and number of people transported per year,” he added.Revealing the new rates to bus operators in Arusha, Mr Suluo said that passengers travelling to Arusha from Dar es Salaam via Chalinze would be required to pay an increased fare of Sh4,000 and Sh7,000 for ordinary and semi-luxury buses respectively.A Latra document shared with media outlets today showed that passengers travelling to Mbeya via Morogoro would be forced to pay Sh6,000 and Sh9,000 more for ordinary and semi-luxury buses respectively.Passengers travelling between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza through the country’s administrative capital of Dodoma would be required to dig deeper into their pockets to pay Sh8,000 and Sh13,000 more for ordinary and semi-luxury bus tickets, according to the document.While travelling to Songea through Morogoro-Njombe would require an additional fare of Sh7,000 and Sh10,000 respectively, passengers will pay Sh7,000 and Sh11,000 for ordinary and semi-luxury buses to reach the same destination through Lindi-Masasi.Passengers travelling to Kigoma from Dar es Salaam through Kahama-Nyakanazi will pay Sh9,000 and Sh17,000 more for ordinary and semi-luxury buses.However, those using the Itigi/Tabora route will be required to pay Sh9,000 and Sh14,000 more in order to reach the same destination.In their key submissions – submitted to Latra last month – bus operators were proposing a fare hike of between 47.78 percent and 79.11percent.While upcountry bus operators wanted the rates to be adjusted upwards by Sh10,000, their commuter bus counterparts wanted the fare to rise from Sh500 to Sh800 while students were to pay Sh300 to commute within the city from the current Sh200.The bus companies that requested an increase in upcountry and commuter buses include Super Feo, ABC Upper Class and Transport Limited and Happy Nation Company Limited.Working on the operators’ proposals, Latra convened a stakeholders’ meeting on October 18 where the documents were reviewed and deliberated. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).