![DalaDala](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Daladala.jpg)
Dala dala are minibus
share taxi
Share may refer to:
* Share, to make joint use of a resource (such as food, money, or space); see Sharing
* Share (finance), a stock or other financial security (such as a mutual fund)
* Share, Kwara, a town and LGA in Kwara State, Nigeria
Share m ...
s in
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
.
[Thoughts On Dala Dala Buses]
isteptanzania.wordpress.com, May 29, 2009 These converted trucks and minibuses are the primary public transportation system in the country.
[ While the name originates from the English word "dollar", they are also referred to as ''thumni''.]
Before minibuses became widely used, a truck with benches placed in the bed
A bed is an item of furniture that is used as a place to sleep, rest, and relax.
Most modern beds consist of a soft, cushioned mattress on a bed frame. The mattress rests either on a solid base, often wood slats, or a sprung base. Many beds ...
was the typical Tanzanian privately owned public transport. Called ''chai maharagwe'', these were popular and also used to transport and deliver goods along the route 1990.[
While ''dala dala'' may run fixed routes picking up passengers at central locations,] they will also stop anywhere along their route to drop someone off or allow a prospective passenger to board.[
In contrast to most of these minibuses, in ]Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
some ''dala dala'' are publicly operated as of 2008.[
]
History in Dar es Salaam
The ''dala dala'' developed as illegal taxis in Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
, the largest city in Tanzania, due to a deteriorating system of government-run public transport in an environment of rising demand for such services. Between 1975 and 1983, the year ''dala dala'' were legalized, the number of buses operating in Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
declined by 36% while the population increased by around 80%.[ In 1983, the government transport company was allowed to sub-contract to private entities, but due to high tariffs, this did little to substantially increase the numbers of licensed ''dala dala''.][
Further reforms in the late 1990s caused the amount of legal minibuses to swell, and between 1991 and 1998 their numbers rose by 450%.][ Large amounts of pirate minibuses continued to exist, however, and in 1998 it was estimated that these comprised nearly half of all ''dala dala'' in operation.][ By 1998 ''dala dala'' had almost completely superseded government run public transport; in that year a total of 12 government operated buses plied the streets.][ Around that time there were somewhere between 7,650 and 6,300 ''dala dala'' in operation.][
]
Conductor
''Dala dala'' are often operated by both a driver and a conductor.[ Called a ''mpigadebe'', the name for ''dala dala'' conductors literally means "a person who hits a debe" (a 4-gallon tin container used for transporting gasoline or water) in reference to the fact that conductors will hit the roof and side of the van to attract customers and notify the driver when to leave a station.
]
Regulation
These vehicles for hire
A vehicle for hire is a vehicle providing private transport or shared transport for a fee, in which passengers are generally free to choose their points or approximate points of origin and destination, unlike public transport, and which they ...
have their routes allocated by a Tanzanian transport regulator, Surface and Marine
Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA),[ but syndicates (informal groups that fix fares, collect dues, and manage stations) also exist.][ Prior to 1983, all forms of privately owned public transport were illegal in Tanzania,][ and as of 1991][ and 1998][ at least half of all ''dala dala'' continued to operate without a license.
In 2002 it was noted that the ''dala dala'' ]market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
"seems to remain under conditions close to classical perfect competition
In economics, specifically general equilibrium theory, a perfect market, also known as an atomistic market, is defined by several idealizing conditions, collectively called perfect competition, or atomistic competition. In Economic model, theoret ...
."[
]
See also
*Boda boda
Boda bodas are bicycles and motorcycle taxis commonly found in East Africa. While motorcycle taxis like boda bodas are present throughout Africa and beyond, the term ''boda boda'' is specific to East Africa. In Kenya, they are more frequently ca ...
*Matatu
In Kenya matatu or matatus (known as mathree in Sheng) are privately owned minibuses used as share taxis. Often decorated, many ''matatu'' feature portraits of famous people or slogans and sayings. Likewise, the music they play is also aimed ...
*Tro tro
In Ghana and neighboring countries, tro tro are privately owned minibus share taxis that travel fixed routes leaving when filled to capacity. While there are ''tro tro'' stations, these vehicles for hire can also be boarded anywhere along the ...
*Weyala
A weyala () is a conductor who receives fares on minibus share taxis in Ethiopia. He also has the duty of informing potential passenger
A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any resp ...
, share taxi conductors in Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
References
{{reflist, group=AICD, refs=[Stuck in Traffic; Urban Transport in Africa (page 9)]
Ajay Kumar & Fanny Barrett. Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic in cooperation with the World Bank, January 2008. Draft Final Report.
[Barrentt & Kumar, Page xii]
Share taxis
Public transport in Tanzania