Residents of Dakar, Senegal’s capital will heap a sigh of relief after a four-year wait as the government inaugurates 120 electric buses for the public transport network.
Senegal’s President Macky Sall on Sunday inaugurated the 120 e-buses, adding that the vehicles are part of the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) fleet.
He added that the 120 e-buses will be powered by solar energy.
“Sunday, 14th of January will go down in our history as a day on which we took another leap towards a modern Senegal,” Macky Sall said.
“We did it with the regional trains, now the BRT reinforces our commitment to the new era of the mass transportation revolution which solves today’s problems and anticipates those of tomorrow.”
According to the president, the BRT buses will connect 14 communes of Dakar from north to south.
He added that the large-capacity buses (approximately 150 seats) are set to carry some 300,000 passengers a day.
With this new development, residents are hopeful the new fleet will help with the city’s congested traffic.
It will improve urban mobility in the agglomeration of Dakar. It is really difficult to leave the suburbs and go to Dakar or do the journey the other way around.
I believe the two major projects by His Excellency President Macky Sall will undoubtedly have a positive social impact.
There is heavy traffic on our roads that’s why the BRT will bring major changes. The BRT will decongest our roads. We lose so much time in the jams.
The BRT was financed by the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the State of Senegal. It cost about 300 billion CFA francs (about 500 million US dollars).
