Urban Transport in the OIC Megacities
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almost empty streets during the night. Therefore, the decentralisation of activities is an urgent matter
for Dakar.
In addition, it is crucial that any relocation of administrative, commercial or business activities should
be accompanied by economically and spatially accessible public transport links so that the share of
private cars in the trips made to the new areas remains low. The coordinated urban and transport
plans that are in the process of being adopted currently in Dakar cater for such provision and take into
account the need to reduce motorized travel. The creation of three urban poles in the region of Dakar
and the development of rapid and reliable transit links between them is an ambitious plan that is going
to provide significant congestion relief for the Plateau area. However, it is necessary for this system to
be designed taking into account its complementarily with other modes and through which regulation
this can be achieved. The proposed urban train and BRT systems can be the backbone of the transport
system of Dakar, complemented by high NMT accessibility and feeder bus services.
Although Dakar does not suffer from the same extreme traffic conditions as other cities examined in
this study. At the same time, Dakar does not show many differences in its development patterns and
the rates of motorization. The influx of the population in the metropolitan region of Dakar will
continue to increase as economic activity and employment opportunities remain concentrated there.
In addition, as average incomes increase the tendency to buy a car as soon as this is affordable in order
to escape from the public transport dependence will persist. If no action is taken, it is highly likely that
this emerging megacity will be dealing with the same problems as Lagos or Cairo in the future.
However, the provision of public transport alone is not sufficient to guarantee high ridership levels.
Restrictions on car access and ownership should be coupled with improved public transport. The main
challenge of imposing private car restrictions is that it is not always a politically safe decision. Private
car owners and other stakeholders involved in the automobile industry may resist to such a decision
and this may affect their support to the local or national government. There is a trade-off between
total and horizontal restrictions to entire areas for certain periods of the week or day and imposing
fees for entry as the former approach is more equitable but the latter brings financial benefits to local
authorities. The latter may be a preferable solution for cities like Dakar where the majority of people
who drive cars are relatively well off and the majority of citizens uses public transport or NMT as their
main mode of transportation therefore imposing fees to private vehicle circulation will benefit a large
part of the population and affect financially only the less vulnerable.
Dakar benefits from the socio-political stability of Senegal, its better economic performance compared
to other West African countries and its existing institutional structures in the transport domain. The
city’s current ambitious urban development plans for the period until 2025 and 2035 which place a
great significance on the transport systemand efficiency of the city. In order to put these plans forward
the government is trying to attract foreign investments and to build Public Private Partnerships (PPP).
However, the fact that the prioritisation and even selection of schemes depends on financing from
external sources, puts the expected effectiveness of current plans at stake. The government of Senegal
has currently selected 27 projects for which it seeks financing as part of the PSE, two of which are big
transport infrastructure projects in Dakar (the BRT and the TER systems).
The city’s ambitions for new infrastructure development aspire to make the city more mobile,
accessible and human friendly. However, it should be noted from the local authorities that these plans
should be accompanied by firm institutional reorganization and management of activities. Dakar
already has available funding to support capacity building and institutional restructuring which
should be used in order to ensure the most efficient allocation of financial and human resources in the
transport sector. It is suggested that although the city’s ambitious infrastructure plans have the
potential to improve transport Dakar’s conditions, due to the current lack of funding, there should be
a wider focus on rendering Dakar an attractive investment environment. Capacity building and simple
straightforward organizational structures (along with ‘one stop’ investment opportunities) can make
a big difference in attractive international interest. It is noted here that Dakar does not enjoy the