To provide a sustainable solution to road congestion in the capital, the State of Senegal, through the Executive Council of Urban Transport of Dakar (CETUD), is relying on the project of “Fast buses on reserved lanes”, also called “Bus Rapid Transit” (BRT).

According to the studies carried out, this capacity mode, which will connect the Guédiawaye Prefecture to the Petersen Bus Station for 18.3 km, for an overall funding of nearly 300 billion FCFA, will transport up to 300,000 travelers per day. The work will be launched on October 28, 2019.

Buses on reserved lanes

BRT is the English acronym for Bus Rapid Transit called in French “Bus à Haut Niveau de Service” (BHNS), running on lanes reserved for them. It is a Clean Site Collective Transport (TCSP) system, like a tram.

An alternative to self-mobility

The Dakar region, characterized by a high urban density, includes most of the country’s administrative, political, economic and cultural functions. Indeed, with 3.63 million inhabitants today (and a projection of 5 million inhabitants by 2030), Dakar is home to nearly 24% of the country’s total population, 50% of the urban population and 70% of the car fleet registered on an area that is equivalent to only 0.3% of the national territory.

With an average annual population growth rate of nearly 3%, added to the annual increase in the car fleet in Dakar (about 10% annually), the volume of travel, especially motorized, will be doubled within a horizon of twenty (20) years. It is in this context that the State of Senegal has chosen to promote public mass transport such as the BRT and the TER.

A structuring public transport project

For daily mobility, more than 80% of motorized travel is provided by public transport, or 1.7 million trips per day. Despite the high congestion of the road network, both in traffic and parked, motorized mobility constitutes only 30% of the 7.2 million trips made daily in Dakar.

The BRT pilot line project is part of an ambitious and comprehensive strategy for sustainable urban mobility in Dakar led by CETUD. Travel times between Guédiawaye and the City Center will increase from 90 to 45 minutes in substantially improved conditions of comfort, safety and regularity.

In addition, the proportion of the regional population that can access the City Center in less than 60 minutes will increase by 12%, from 57% to 69%.