Dala-dala
Encyclopedia
Dala-dala or share taxi
Share taxi
A share taxi is a mode of transport that falls between taxis and conventional buses. These informal vehicles for hire are found throughout the world. They are smaller than buses, and usually take passengers on a fixed or semi-fixed route without timetables, usually leaving when all seats are filled...

s, are the most common form of public transportation in Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...

 as well as Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

 in general. They are privately operated minivan
Minivan
Minivan is a type of van designed for personal use. Minivans are typically either two-box or one box designs for maximum interior volume – and are taller than a sedan, hatchback, or a station wagon....

s, (usually Toyota).

Daladalas are operated by the driver and the mpigadebe (in Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...

, "someone who beats on a tin can") whose duty is to collect money from the passengers as well as luring potential customers onboard. As daladalas are informal and will often stop along the way to let passengers climb in, the mpigadebe beats on a tin can (hence the name), or on the daladala's ceiling or doors, to let the driver know when an unplanned stop is needed. There is no precise maximum number of passengers
.

There is a minor controversy on the etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...

 of the term "dala-dala". One explanation for it is from the swahili word dala, referring to a 5-shilling
Tanzanian shilling
The shilingi is the currency of Tanzania, although widespread use of U.S. dollars is accepted. It is subdivided into 100 senti .The Tanzanian shilling replaced the East African shilling in 1966 at par....

 coin, that used to be the most common fare
Fare
A fare is the fee paid by a passenger allowing him or her to make use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used.-Uses:...

. Since 5 shilling were also the equivalent of 1 dollar, "dala-dala" might also derive from a corruption of the english word.

Daladalas go by different names in some areas, such as gobole, vipanya and hiace (in Arusha
Arusha
Arusha is a city in northern Tanzania. It is the capital of the Arusha Region, which claims a population of 1,288,088, including 281,608 for the Arusha District . Arusha is surrounded by some of Africa's most famous landscapes and national parks...

); this last name comes from the Toyota HiAce
Toyota Hiace
The Toyota HiAce is a motor vehicle produced by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota. First launched in 1967, the HiAce has since been available in a wide range of configurations, including minivan and minibus, van, pick-up, taxi, and ambulance....

 minivan, which is the most commonly used vehicle for daladala service. Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

's matatu
Matatu
In Kenya and neighboring nations matatu are privately owned minibuses although pick-up trucks were in the past pressed into service as these East African share taxis. Often decorated, many matatu feature portraits of the famous or slogans and sayings, some religious.These minibuses ply set routes,...

are essentially identical to tanzanian daladalas.

In Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...

 dala-dalas are sometimes pick-ups, although minivans are also in use. Bigger vehicles such as trucks modified for passenger transport are not usually referred to as daladalas, but rather as mabasi (singular: basi, meaning "bus" in swahili).

History

Daladalas began operating in Tanzania in the 1960s, but became widespread in the 1980s, due to a crisis of public transport proper: namely, public service did not manage to cope with the fast increase in population of large urban areas such as Dar es Salaam. Daladalas were originally illegal; from 1986 on, the government gradually liberalized
Liberalization
In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. In some contexts this process or concept is often, but not always, referred to as deregulation...

 the transportation sector, to the point that according to today's laws, essentially every privately owned vehicle can transport paying passengers as long as a licence fee is paid to the government.
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