Study recommends half fare for students

The National Institute of Transport (NIT) has observed that students should be charged half the fare by commuter buses for the same distance they travel.

The observation was made by Augustine Mwaya, NIT consultant yesterday in Dar es Salaam at the stakeholders meeting on study on students� transport problems in Dar es Salaam and other cities in the country.

Mwaya said the Transport Licensing Act Number 1 (Cap 317, the Transport Licensing (Road Service Vehicles) (Prescribed Conditions) Regulations of 1973 2(c) recognizes students as children between the age of 3 to 16 years.

`None has ever been ready to enforce the law,` said the NIT consultant.

He said the regulations stipulate that students` fare is fifty per cent, but unfortunately approved rates of students from time to time had just been a fraction less than 50 per cent of full fare.

He said lack of enforcement of the Act has been the root cause of the students` transport problems.

Mwaya said law enforcement institutions have been hesitating to enforce the student fare at 50 per cent.

`According to the study, most institutions consulted consider the fare rate of 50 per cent as having socio-political implications than economical,` he said.

He said the operators are reluctant to allow students into their buses for fear of benefiting less from the little fares.

`They also see carrying members of the army who travel for free as a burden, in addition to that of students,` he said.

According to Mwaya, government, parents and operators are responsible in implementing the national transport policy without jeopardizing commercial consideration to service providers.

An official of Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra), Peter Bakilana, said stakeholders had suggested that students pay half of transport charges per route instead of paying 50/- .

He said the meeting also discussed the possibility of police, military personnel and prison to start paying transport charges in commuter buses.

If the recommendation are accepted, students in Dar es Salaam will be compelled to pay between 150/- and 175 /-.

Bakilana told the participants that in order to do away with transport costs for students, studies have indicated that students should be studying closer to their schools.