Traffic deadlocks, jams, and bottlenecks are an all-too-common occurrence in Senegal’s capital, Dakar. As Dakar becomes an emerging city, the population and government have taken on several efforts to lessen congestion. As context, Dakar is situated on a peninsula, and divided into three districts – Dakar City, Pikine-Guediawaye, and Rufisque – all poorly connected through the historic road network. Furthermore for 44% of poor Dakarois, walking is their main means of transportation, limiting their access to essential services (Dramani 2011). Before the government decided to step in, communal transportation in Dakar was handled by Senegalese car rapides and Ndiaga ndiayes – both informally-run colorful minibuses that have been around for the past 40 years, but have started to be phased out.
Figure 1. Car Rapide en route in Dakar centre. Image Source: CETUD;
Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/car-rapides-senegal/index.html
With about 2500-3000 vehicles, 80% of public transportation demand has been historically met by these informal channels (Kumar and Diou 2010,14). The government, on the other hand, runs the Dakar Dem Dikk bus system, which is historically unreliable and underfunded. Dakar’s most recent intervention to alleviate congestion has been a toll highway from Dakar to, nearby city, Diamniadio, which has attracted international attention and is poised to be a legacy builder for current President Abdoulaye Wade. Opened in 2018, it is still too early to see the long-term effects of the project, but Dakar seems poised to continuously tackle these congestion concerns as it pushes itself onto the world stage.
Figure 2. Overheard view of the Dakar-Diamniadio Toll Highway cutting through the periphery of Dakar. Image Source: CPI; Retrieved from https://www.centreforpublicimpact.org/case-study/senegals-dakar-diamniad o-toll-highway
References
Dramani, Latif. (2011). Poverty spatial polarization in Senegal. Journal of Geography and Regional Planning. 4. 664-671.
Kumar, Ajay, and Christian Diou. “Bus Renewal Scheme in Dakar Before and After.” SSATP Discussion Paper No. 11, May 2010. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/17806/669390NWP0Box30heme0Daka0with0cover.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.