🧩 The Challenge
Tanzania is experiencing rapid urbanization, with half of its population expected to live in cities by 2050. Urban areas already contribute about 50% of the country's GDP, with Dar es Salaam—home to 40% of the urban population—being one of Africa's fastest-growing cities. The city is projected to become a megacity by 2030. However, urban inefficiencies hinder productivity, job creation, and accessibility, highlighting the need for improved infrastructure and public transport systems.
The National Transport Policy (NTP) aims to enhance urban mobility, emphasizing high-capacity public transport, with the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system as the key initiative. Supported by the World Bank’s Dar Es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project (2017–2026), the BRT system’s first phase has already cut travel times significantly. With six planned phases, the goal is to develop a 140.1 km network by 2030. While the BRT reduces congestion and improves accessibility in the city’s core, informal settlements still face long commutes and high transportation costs. The system also aligns with climate goals, promoting sustainable mobility and reducing car use.
🛠️ The Intervention
The Dar Es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project (P150937) includes several initiatives aimed at improving women’s mobility and boosting their employment opportunities within the transport sector.
Initiatives to enhance women’s mobility include:
- Improved Pedestrian Infrastructure: The project is developing safer walking spaces, including sidewalks, lighting, and pedestrian crossings, focusing on areas with high foot traffic.
- Enhanced Public Transport: The BRT system is being expanded to reduce waiting times, ease overcrowding, and improve safety for female passengers.
- Mobile Reporting System for Gender-Based Violence (GBV): The system allows women to report GBV incidents in public transport, maps occurrences, and facilitates action from authorities. The data collected supports advocacy and policy change to make public transport safer and more inclusive for women and girls.
Initiatives to improve employment opportunities for women include:
- Vocational Skills and Entrepreneurship Training: Daladala drivers and conductors impacted by BRT Phase 3 receive training to transition into new roles.
- Structured Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP): This program trains fresh engineering graduates through the Ministry of Works (MoW) and provides stipends to enable participation. The project aims for 50% female enrollment in SEAP, enhancing women’s representation in the engineering workforce.
User satisfaction and the training and employment of women are some of the indicators used to monitor progress against the activities outlined in the project.
🏗️ Implementation Challenges and Successes
The project faced several challenges such as leadership continuity issues and delays in system functionalities. Despite these hurdles, the project achieved notable successes:
- Graduate Engineering Initiative: The SEAP reached equal representation of women and men, with 433 graduates (211 men and 210 women) participating as of March 2024. Of the 421 graduates, 199 became registered professional engineers, including 91 women, significantly increasing female representation in engineering.
- Women Drivers Training: Under the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) program, 102 women drivers were trained, with 77 completing the course. Many of these women have already secured positions as BRT bus drivers, and the PPP operator for BRT-1 is considering this pool of trained drivers for recruitment.
💡 Lessons Learned
The Dar Es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project provides valuable lessons for integrating strategies that address barriers faced by women into large-scale infrastructure projects:
- Leadership and Oversight Are Crucial: Strong, consistent leadership is vital to maintaining focus, especially during periods of institutional change.
- Expert Support from Specialists: Successful integration requires support from experts in transport and inclusion.
- Simple Tools Can Be Effective: Practical, low-cost tools like passenger satisfaction surveys, suggestion boxes, and toll-free numbers effectively identify barriers and generate actionable insights.
- Targeted Initiatives have Transformative Impacts: Programs like SEAP, which achieved parity among women and men, demonstrate the power of focused interventions to empower women in male-dominated fields.
- Capacity-Building and Local Expertise Are Essential: Strengthening the skills of social specialists and utilizing local consultants with regional knowledge enhances the effectiveness of inclusion initiatives.
📌 Conclusion
The Dar Es Salaam Urban Transport Improvement Project demonstrates the significant benefits of integrating the strategies addressing women’s mobility and employment needs into urban transport planning. By improving infrastructure, enhancing safety, and providing professional development opportunities, the project not only boosts women’s mobility but also empowers them economically and socially. While challenges such as capacity constraints and delays remain, the successes of initiatives like the graduate engineering program and tools for user feedback highlight the importance of targeted interventions.
Note: This case study was prepared based on a desk review and an interview with Yonas Eliesikia Mchomvu, Senior Transport Specialist at the World Bank.