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The “Sustainable Mobility and Climate Week” continues until Friday 7 October. Experts and actors are meeting in Dakar to discuss the challenges and innovative solutions in terms of urban transport and development in the face of climate change. A workshop was devoted in particular to the place of the bicycle in the urban area of Dakar, which has nearly 4 million inhabitants.
With our correspondent in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac
Corks, potholes, exhaust fumes… Papa Moussa Diop is not afraid of that. For five years, this civil engineer at the Ministry of Infrastructure has been using his bike every day to go to work. ” There, I traveled almost 30 km from my home to here. I hold on to that. But there are plenty of problems, motorists don’t have a cycling culture. This morning once more, I was brushed once morest. The leaders all have 4x4s, it pollutes a lot “, he regrets.
« If there were safe bike lanes… »
During a workshop organized by the “Sustainable Agile City” firm, the participants listed the obstacles to the use of bicycles in Dakar. Seydou hlives in the capital for four years following several years abroad. “If there were safe cycle paths to allow access to the city center, yes, I would cycle because I have always cycled. »
For Nancy, a transport engineer, there are also constraints for women: “ There is the style of dress, there is insecurity. In general, it is the little boys who are educated to ride a bicycle. Culturally, I would say, it’s more complicated to ride a bike as a Senegalese woman. »
« Advocate for cycling »
So cycling as the preferred mode of transport in Dakar may not be for tomorrow…but Papa Moussa Diop believes in it: “ For me, this is the solution in terms of health, the environment and even in terms of road infrastructure. And I will do everything, wherever I go, to advocate for cycling. »
►Also to listen: African cities: how to take the turn of sustainable mobility?