Stagecoach donates third coach to Africa Stagecoach is helping to improve road safety in Africa.
The company has provided one vehicle to the Industrial Training Centre (ITC) in Zambia and now a second to the National Institute of Transport (NIT) in Tanzania.
The Van Hool-bodied Volvo B10M will arrive in Tanzania by the end of December and be used by the NIT in Dar es Salaam, the country’s largest city, where the institute provides practical driver training for bus and lorry drivers in a bid to reduce road crashes in Tanzania.
In the first quarter of 2011, over 6000 crashes were recorded, claiming more than 800 lives. The government is introducing a BRT system into highly congested Dar es Salaam which will utilise dedicated bus lanes. As a result, around 1,000 drivers need to be trained to operate the new bus system safely.
The coaches have been provided through Stagecoach’s strong partnership with international development charity Transaid.
Stagecoach Highlands Driving Instructor Neil Rettie is mid-way through a two year secondment to improve the quality and delivery of practical elements of the driver training course, working as project manager of Transaid’s Professional Driver Training Project in Tanzania.
Gary Forster, CEO of Transaid said: “We are hugely grateful to Stagecoach for its continuing support of this vital project. This latest donation will provide muchneeded additional training capacity and help the Professional Driver Training Project to ensure trainees receive more practical experience.”
Stagecoach UK Bus MD Les Warneford said: “We are proud of our long-standing partnership with Transaid and pleased to assist the driver training project through the provision of vehicles.
“Improved driver training is vital if we are to reduce the number of road crashes in both Tanzania and Zambia, and we hope these buses – as well as the important work being done by Neil in Tanzania – will go some way to help raise road safety standards in these countries.”
