Along for the Ride #277
trainspotting in tanzania
Heya friends, happy Friday (for real this time)!
I am writing again from an airport—this time Istanbul—while my friend Al catches up on work beside me and my friend Max edits a new episode of his podcast. We’re on the return journey from our trip to Dar es Salaam and heading back to London before another adventure.
Being in Dar had all my transportation nerd spidey senses tingling. The city is in constant motion; the sound of the streetscape is a melody of beeps and motors revving. I walked some places while in Dar, but not many. When I did walk, there was a frequent “beep beep” from boda drivers assuming I needed a ride and seeming genuinely alarmed when I said I wanted to continue my walk. Bike riding was even more sparse, but not completely unusual. I sadly didn’t make it on the city’s BRT system (called DART!), as only one segment of the system is currently open, but a massive BRT network is under construction throughout the city, which has the potential to be transformational. I have some concerns given the city’s population density near the major stations. Still, given the informal first/last mile transit connections (bodas, tuktuks), in addition to outside investment creating denser housing in the city, maybe it will all work out.
Before we dive into the general news, I thought I’d share some fun facts about Dar that I learned on my travels:
Dar is a very young city, dating back only to the 1860s. There is a ton of colonial history with both Germany and the United Kingdom colonising the city up until liberation in 1961.
I went to an exhibit hosted by the Dar Centre for Architectural History (DARCH) at Old Boma (the oldest building in the city), which mapped the city’s urban and architectural development, which was 20/10 if you ever find yourself there. It was well written and captured how colonialism impacted urban development and architectural typologies throughout the region.
Traffic in Dar during peak hours makes sloths look fast. According to this research from ITPD and TUMI, only 6% of the city’s traffic is “personal motor vehicles”, but given how different the mode choices are in the city centre vs. outlying regions, I’d guess in the city that number is closer to 70%.
Fun fact: the average transit fare in Dar is TZS 750 or £0.21 / $0.29 USD. It’s even less if you’re a student. This gives me Sad Vibes™️ as London currently has the most expensive public transportation system in the world (Telegraph)
In August 2024, a new electric train service launched connecting Dar to Dodoma (the country’s capital). I was lucky enough to ride the train (weee, pics below), and it was so smooth and well-kept. It was also full of people and has transported millions of people since it launched. When on safari last week, our guide said the train has meant that tourism to the park now skews more domestic than international for the first time ever.
Alright, let’s dive into some news! Still bullet points given my brain is vacation mushy (a legitimate term).
Busan, South Korea, is planning to launch an autonomous bus service (The Korea Herald)
Six months on, congestion pricing is working in NYC (Smart Cities Dive)
Average bus speeds in the congestion pricing zone increased on a year-over-year basis every month since launch!
Approximately 8% to 13% fewer vehicles entered the zone each month this year compared with the historical average (love)
Can America stop building highways? (Bloomberg)
This is an interview with Erick Guerra, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, about his new book, Overbuilt
The UK is delivering a national active travel network, starting by making it safer for children to walk, cycle or scoot to school (The Guardian)
Tesla has plans to bring their robotaxi service to San Francisco in the “next two months”, and I can imagine San Francisco residents likely have plans to welcome them with cones, fireworks, and other pranks (Reuters)
After launching service in Atlanta, Waymo has had to respond to videos of their vehicles stalling while driving (Fox……)
Waymo’s ever-extending footprint is heading to Philly next for testing and data collection(Mass Transit), after similar efforts have started in NYC (CNET)
I am very curious to see if Waymo will collect data / eventually launch in Staten Island
Waymo is also starting to offer accounts to teenagers, which was picked up by … insurance websites, given the implications that will have. Teens 14-17 years old in Phoenix can ride solo with an account linked to a parent’s account (Claims Journal)
MOIA (VW’s autonomy arm) is looking to expand further into Europe and the US next year (Fleet Europe)
China’s Car Inc. partners with Baidu’s Apollo to allow travellers to rent AVs for their trips (anywhere between four hours and a week) (Reuters)
How bikes can reduce inequalities in job accessibility
“The results indicate that bike-transit synergy offers a fairer distribution of job accessibility in the region compared to the car, despite the latter offering significantly higher accessibility levels. These benefits are more pronounced in peri-urban areas, where the integration significantly enhances accessibility in the least accessible areas. However, the benefits are lower in the urban core, where jobs are concentrated, and in rural areas, where public transport quality is poor.”
What makes for “good” transportation policy?
“In the policy analysis literature, there is a certain level of agreement that “good” policies meet three criteria: they should be (1) effective, (2) efficient and (3) fair (Young & Tilley, Citation 2006). In this editorial, I will discuss these criteria in the context of transport policy-making and propose additional criteria: (4) a positive balance of benefits and costs, (5) ease of implementation, (6) flexibility and (7) long-term robustness”
Fellow transport newsletter nerd David Levinson has a new piece about using Pony.ai’s service in Shenzhen. He recounts how this compares to other AV services (including Waymo) and provides a nice recap of the overall experience.
No job board while I’m off, but if you are hiring, feel free to send an email to be included in the next edition.
We took the train to Morogoro before heading to Mukumi for our safari adventure, where we got to see zebras, giraffes, lions, elephants, warthogs, wildebeests, and more. The secret stunner of the trip was the butterflies. Tanzania is home to over 3,000 different types of butterflies (!) alone, and they are stunningly beautiful and highly prevalent.
Post safari, we hiked through Udzungwa Mountains National Park (with a seven-month-old bb in tow), where we encountered a snake which made my friend Al squeal like I’ve never heard before. We also went for a swim at the base of a waterfall, and were the only people there, which felt extra magical.
We spent the last few days in Dar, eating street food, walking through town, and dancing the night away. We spent a lot of time with my friends Adnaan and Mehak’s extended family, including some heated rounds of Bananagrams (a top-tier travel game, imho). I am already looking forward to challenging their Uncle to a game next time he passes through London.
That’s all from me. Have a beautiful weekend friends.
Sarah
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