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A series of expansion works under way on the Algiers' metro system, which marked its fifth anniversary in late October, are among the most recent efforts by the government to reduce congestion in Algeria's major urban areas.
Underground works
Three major upgrades to the €1.1bn underground system – the second in North Africa after Cairo – are currently under construction.
The first is a 1.7-km extension to the Place des Martyrs, expected to double ridership to 200,000 per day when work is completed at the end of 2017; while the second – a new 3.6-km section between Aïn Naâdja and Baraki, south of the city centre – is scheduled for delivery in late 2018. Lastly, work on a 10-km extension from El Harrach to the Houari Boumediene Airport, which started in 2015, will involve the construction of nine new stations through to the end of 2019.
These projects follow the completion of a €110m extension project last year, which increased the metro’s total length from 9.5 to 13.5 km.
Metro performance
With 70% of Algerians living in urban areas, up from 52% in 1990, according to the World Bank, public transport is a strategic priority.
While private automotive transport remains the most common mode of travel in the country, urban networks like the Algiers metro are attracting more passengers every year. Ridership on the system has risen steadily, reaching 100,000 passengers per day in 2016, an increase of 39% from 2014, according to Ministry of Transport figures.
Robust growth has helped strengthen positive forecasts for the metro’s medium-term performance, with the operator hoping the ongoing line extensions will help the metro reach profitability.
“The revenues cover 60% of operating costs, maintenance and energy supply,” Didier Lescloupé, CEO of the metro's partly French-owned operator, Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens El Djazaïr, told local press at the end of May. “Our goal with the extended lines, in addition to advertisements and shops in the stations, is to break even in 2020.”
Tram and bus networks
The metro expansions are not the only major public transport projects currently under way in the country.
Work on a new tramline in Sidi Bel Abbès in the north-west is expected to be finished by the end of the year, while routes in Ouargla in the north-east and Mostaganem on the Mediterranean coast are due in 2017. Another project, an 18.2-km line in Sétif in the north-east, was reported to be 50% complete in mid-2016 and should come on-stream by early 2018.
Tramways are already in operation in Algiers and Oran, as well as in Constantine, where there is a 10-km, AD34bn (€288.3m) extension under construction.
Bus rapid transit (BRT) also appears to be in the offing. Speaking to local press in October, Boudjema Talai, minister of transport and public works, announced plans to develop a BRT system in Algiers without drawing on state funds.
According to Talai, the BRT will offer the connectivity and reliability of the existing metro and tram network but at a lower cost per kilometre. A feasibility study of a pilot BRT line linking the centre of the capital to the Houari Boumediene Airport has already been launched.
New urban transport authority
The renewed focus on public and urban transport projects comes in the wake of the government’s 2015 announcement of its latest five-year development plan, which allocated AD832.7bn (€7.2bn) for expansions and upgrades of infrastructure through to 2019.
In spite of lower oil revenues, the government has continued to ring-fence and prioritise funding for key projects, but has also begun looking to improve the performance of the transport sector through structural reforms.
In October Talai announced the establishment of an urban transport authority, whose mandate will initially cover operations in Algiers but is set to expand nationwide.
The new entity will oversee extensions and improvements to urban transport infrastructure and equipment, lead the integration of urban and regional transport modes, and develop a single-fare policy.
The latter will support efforts to create an intermodal public transport network in Algiers, which earlier this year launched a AD2500 (€21.45) monthly pass valid on the bus, metro, tram and cable car lines.
© Oxford Business Group 2017
