Dakar through the Prism of Urban Mobility Challenges

Presentation Abstract
African capital cities face the thorny issue of urban mobility, with growing populations drawn to economic hubs and sites of political-administrative institutions. With a population of more than 5 million, the Senegalese capital Dakar faces a recurrent mobility problem due to a macro-cephalic dimension determined by its small surface area of 550 km. As the bankruptcy of the state public transport system renders it incapable of meeting the demands of the population, the acquisition of a personal car thus becomes a necessity for Dakar residents—contributing to permanent traffic jams. Notwithstanding public policies of support for the public transport sector, notably the state company “Dakar Dem Dikk”, private actors gathered around economic interest groups have obtained State facilitation in deploying fleets of buses, of the Indian brand Tata. Alongside these routes which still fail to reduce the transport deficit, Dakar has also undertaken the construction of a Bus Rapid Transport network to relieve traffic congestion. However, the arrival of “new invaders”, motorcycle taxi drivers, already visible in several African capitals—and commonly designated “Moto Jakarta” in Senegal—calls for a new reading of the transportation challenge. As such, it is necessary to consider how urban mobility impasses have been transformed through the growth in market availability of Asian brands of personal vehicles.