PUBLIC TRANSPORT INITIATIVES IN WEST AFRICA, A CASE STUDY OF ABIDJAN

Abstract

Abidjan is the principal city of the West African Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. It is the gateway city to West Africa. In 2014, the population of the city was estimated at four million people. Over the next fifteen years, this is projected to rise to nearly seven and a half million people. This continuing growth has an associated projected strong economic growth. This paper addresses the challenges associated with the provision of equitable public transport services to address the needs of the growing population. Public transport currently in Abidjan is complex consisting of both formal transport in the form of public bus services and several forms of informal public transport. In order to understand the existing travel trends and especially the declining public transport proportion in Abidjan, a series of surveys were undertaken for the development of an analytical methodology. This included amongst others an interview survey of people at the household level and public transport opinion surveys. The methodology thus developed allowed an understanding of the impact of new proposed infrastructure. The introduction of new infrastructure in the form of a higher level of public transport and an enhanced regulatory format will enable the implementation of an environmentally friendly public transport with a growing market share.