Safety Evaluation of the First Bus Rapid Transit System in Tanzania

The first bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Tanzania and the third in Africa became operational in 2016. As it was introduced to relieve congestion and promote efficient means of public transportation, most previous researchers have focused on its effectiveness on travel time reliability. While travel time is important, the safety aspect of the BRT system is equally important. This study conducted a comprehensive safety evaluation of the BRT system in Tanzania using five years (2016-2020) of crash data. The hot spot analysis was conducted to identify locations experiencing more crashes. The text mining approach was used to understand the key themes from crash narratives. The established themes were further analyzed using a Bayesian network (BN) to understand their association with the severity of crashes that involved BRT buses. Analysis of the results showed that major intersections and locations with commercial activities are the hot spots for crashes involving BRT buses. The text network revealed that most crashes involving a BRT bus and pedestrians were associated with drivers failing to obey traffic control devices. Crashes involving a collision between BRT buses and non-motorized road users were more likely to be severe. The BN findings showed that distraction, collision with non-motorized road users, and disregarding traffic control devices are associated with a higher likelihood of severe crashes. The findings are anticipated to assist agencies in improving the safety of existing and future BRT systems.