Institutional and Legal Framework Governing Commercial Motorcycle Taxis: Challenges and way Forward, Dar es Salaam, Tanzani

Abstract

Formulation and implementation of a coordinated strategy for public transportation depends on a well-defined authority and responsible system of administration. The lack of efficiency strategy leads to the failure of public transport services. This paper is a result of the findings of the study on the institutional and legal framework that govern commercial motorcycle taxis in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Among other key issues, the paper examined institutional and legal framework to determine its strength and weaknesses, operators and commuters’ involvement into the formulation of laws or regulations that govern commercial motorcycle taxis in the city, adherence of commuters and operators to the set rules and regulations. The study involved 370 respondents who are operators and commuters. Exploratory study design was employed during the study and contents and descriptive method analyzed the data from the field. The study found out that there is low level of adherence and other emerging challenges associated with the services provision by commercial motorcycle taxis. Multiplicity of institutional and regulatory framework governing commercial motorcycle taxis contributes significantly to low level of compliance to the set rules and regulation among operators. It has also been identified that poor involvement of operators and owners in the policy, laws and regulations formulation leads to existing challenges associated with commercial motorcycle taxis, including; operating without being registered and sometimes without driving license. Thus, there is a need to fully involve all key stakeholders in the process of laws and regulations formulation to make the intended objectives of the set rules and regulation be achieved. This case operators will adhere to the set rules and regulations and hence improve the services offered. It is also important to streamline institutional and legal framework governing commercial motorcycle taxis in order to reduce challenges associated with institutional and legal framework set ups.