Ethiopia: City Transport – Veins to Accelerate Development

Publication: allAfrica

Author: Homa Mulisa

Addis Ababa

Urbanization has been one of the dominant contemporary processes since the population has been rising in cities. Considering this trend, urban transportation issues are of foremost importance to support the passengers and freight mobility requirements of large urban habitats.

Transportation in urban areas is highly complex because of the variety of modes involved, the diverse nature of origins and destinations, and the magnitude and variety of traffic. The focus of urban transportation has been on passengers as cities were viewed as locations of utmost human interactions with complex traffic patterns linked to commuting, commercial transactions and leisure as well as cultural activities. However, most importantly, urban transport serves as veins to accelerate developments in industry, trade, education, health and other services.

According to a recent report by United Nations, the Ethiopian population is estimated to be over 103 million of which 20.3 percent of the population lives in urban areas.

Addis Ababa, with an area of 540 square kilometer, divided into ten sub-cities and 116 woredas (districts). The capital city is the country’s political and economic center, home to head offices of African Union and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. It also accommodates many international aid and development organizations and more than 100 embassies. The development of transportation, infrastructure remaining crucial, the metropolitan faces an array of challenges.

Hence, in a bid to diversify transport accessibility in the city, the Addis Ababa City Transport Programmes Management Office has commenced the construction of Bus Rapid Transit Corridor (BRT), according to Tewodros Tsegaye, BRT Project Management Team Head.

The BRT is a high-quality bus-based transit system that delivers fast, comfortable, and cost-effective services at metro-level capacities. It does this through the provision of dedicated lanes and iconic stations typically aligned to the center of the road, off-board fare collection, and fast and frequent operations.

Because BRT contains features similar to a light rail or metro system, it is much more reliable, convenient and faster than regular bus services, explained Tewodros. With the right features, BRT is able to avoid the causes of delay that typically slow regular bus services, like being stuck in traffic and queuing to pay on board. Besides, he said as the transit system uses a designated lane, it contributes to traffic fluidity and reduces road accidents.

Tewodros added, “Bus Rapid Transit gives communities the best service for their money when it comes to investing in transit. This new system will better connect workers to jobs, shoppers to stores and off-city dwellers to the rapidly growing economy.”

Moreover, according to Tewodros, BRT-2 corridor that cruises through five sub-cities where an estimate of more than 40 percent of city inhabitants reside is expected to remarkably relieve the ever increasing shortfall in public transport accessibility in Addis Ababa.

The BRT corridor project is planned to operate in a complementary manner with the existing and upcoming light rail system in the city, and majorly covers areas not covered by the light rail system. BRT-2 that covers 16 km all the way from Winget – Pasteur – Autobs Tera -Tekle Haimanot- Mexico – Kera – to Jemo will have 20 stop points.

The Team Head further told The Ethiopian Herald that a study for the construction of six BRT corridors in the city is being finalized.

The light rail system combined with the BRT corridors and other modern transport system would facilitate the city’s and its surroundings economic activities ultimately contributing to holistic development of the nation.

Similarly, it was recently reported that the office is exerting efforts to ease parking problems through development of optimized parking systems in the city, particularly with the construction of Smart and Ground Parking systems.

The construction of parking infrastructure at Megenagana (East Addis), Wollo Sefer (on the way to Bole International Airport) was reportedly nearing completion. Parking infrastructure of various kinds are under construction in the city according to sources.

Earlier reports indicate that The World Bank had provided $300 million International Development Association (IDA) credit to improve mobility along selected corridors in Addis Ababa and the effectiveness of road safety compliance systems throughout Ethiopia.

This involves expanding the existing traffic signal and control systems in Addis Ababa and improving the conditions on selected streets for pedestrians, modernize the operations of public transport services, build the operational and managerial capacity and efficiency of urban transport agencies in dealing with urbanization and transportation.

Therefore, the activities being undertaken with regard to public transport modernization, pedestrian pavement construction and rehabilitation as well as the construction of smart parking facilities, all expected to uplift the city’s transport system aiding economic activities.