The Senegalese government is maneuvering to bring public transport services under its control. A policy that requires major investments and projects launched in recent years.

Senegal is preparing to launch another public transport project involving the deployment of 400 gas-powered buses, to boost the mobility offer in Dakar and its suburbs. According to Thierno Birahim AW, CEO of CETUD (Conseil exécutif des transports urbains de Dakar), this will be the first phase of a larger program covering a total fleet of 1,000 natural gas or electric buses.

"We have already secured funding for this third largest mass transit project in the Dakar region. The overall restructuring of the public transport network will make it possible to mesh a 40 km network of 14 lines during the first phase," he explained.

This new investment will complement the public transport services operated by Dakar Dem Dikk (DDD), the TER, and the BRT, whose commissioning was scheduled for December 2023, but could be postponed due to acts of vandalism on construction sites during the riots that shook Dakar in early June.

These various offers will reduce the dominance of private operators in the market for public transport services in the capital, where demand is estimated at nearly 7.2 million passengers a day, according to a CETUD study.

Agence Ecofin