A new Bus Terminal for Arusha City will go into construction from as early as January 2025.
Arusha, which is the third busiest city in Tanzania as far as the transport sector is concerned, still lacks a proper Bus Station even as the country marks 63 years of Independence.
Now through the Tanzania Cities Transforming Infrastructure and Competitiveness (TACTIC) project, which is being undertaken in conjunction with the World Bank (WB) the Northern Safari Precinct braces to get a new station.
At least, the proposed project was announced at the National Assembly sessions in Dodoma, where the question was recently raised regarding when exactly the Northern City was bound to get its first proper bus station.
A response from the Ministry of State for the President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) was to the effect that Arusha would get a two-storey building which will serve as the City Bus Station.
“The facility, whose construction is expected to commence in January 2025 will cost 24 billion/- upon completion,” a statement from the Ministry reveals.
The new bus terminal for Arusha Urban will be constructed in a place called ‘Bondeni City,’ a planned satellite settlement located around 15 kilometers south of the Arusha City Center.
It is yet to be known how long the project will take before being accomplished.
More than 200 cross-country and inter-state buses ply between Arusha and up-country regions as well as the neighbouring country of Kenya, on a daily basis, handling over 20,000 passengers between them.
At the moment many of the passenger vehicles driving into Arusha are forced to squeeze in a tiny bus park located at the city center which causes plenty of inconveniences to travellers and drivers alike.
Other bus operators with a few more cash to spend have opted to hire their own landing and departure offices away from the communal chaos.
What surprises many is the fact that places like Mwanza have two new modern bus stations, while Dar-es-salaam has up to four, yet Arusha, which is the country’s tourism portal, doesn’t seem to have a single terminal.