Senegal banks on $300 million rapid bus plan to improve urban transport
Senegal is counting on a new Dkar Bus Rapid Transit pilot project to reduce by half the average rush hour in-vehicle travel time by public transport.
The project whose main focus is from Guediawaye Prefecture to Petersen Bus Station in Dakar Plateau (18.3 kms) has an investment of $300 million and is supported by the World Bank.
“The BRT will substantially improve travel conditions in the Dakar agglomeration, which currently has 3.5 million inhabitants, with a projection of 5 million in 2030,” said Mr. Mansour Elimane Kane, Minister of Infrastructure, Land Transport and Opening up of the Republic of Senegal. “This important project for the Plan Senegal Emergent will certainly reach its objective of economic performance and social equitiy by offering to the users a guarantee of better travel times, an improvement of the level of comfort and safety, at an acceptable cost.”
“This mass-transit and less polluting transport system will have an important impact for the Senegal economic growth,” said Louise Cord, World Bank Coutnry Direcrtor fo Senegal. She stressed that the thousands of people entering each day the center of Dakar will be the main beneficiaries of the new infrastructure. “Women will have increased opportunities to qualified jobs created by BRT operations and the local transport operators will run the operations of the feeder lines to the BRT system. They will also have an opportunity to own a share of the capital of the BRT operator company.” The business environment in Senegal will also benefit from the success of the PPP transaction.
“The construction of an 18.3 km fully segregated BRT line will allow the boarding of 300,000 passengers per day with 27,300 at peak hours,” said Tojoarofenitra Ramanankirahinaa and Franck Taillandier, Team Task Leaders at the World Bank. “It will include including three major passenger terminals and 20 stations, as well as the provision of buses fleet and an Intelligent Transport System (ITS).” A private operator will be selected and contracted under a Public-Private Partnership by the Dakar Urban Transport Council (Conseil Exécutif des Transports Urbains de Dakar, CETUD).
