Morocco’s Step Towards Improving Urban Transport: Interior Minister Unveils a Plan with 11 Billion Dirhams for Sector Development
Moroccan Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit has announced a comprehensive plan to develop public transport in cities aimed at improving service quality and ensuring workers’ rights.
As part of this strategy, Laftit outlined several key focus areas:
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New Administrative Structure: Fourteen cooperation institutions among municipalities have been established, along with seven territorial groups and seven local development companies, responsible for managing urban transport.
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Future Planning: The ministry adopts a holistic approach to support local communities in drafting sustainable urban mobility plans, along with providing necessary financial and technical assistance.
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Funding Major Projects: The Urban Transport Reform Support Fund (FRAT) is contributing to funding massive projects such as tram lines and high-quality bus services (BHNS). Among these projects are four tram lines in Casablanca and two in Rabat, in addition to two high-quality bus lines in Casablanca and one in Agadir.
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New Bus Program: A new program for the period 2025-2029 has been established with a total investment of 11 billion dirhams, aimed at acquiring 3,796 modern buses, developing operating systems, and upgrading stations and maintenance centers. The contributions from the Interior and Economy Ministries to the FRAT were raised to 3 billion dirhams annually to finance this program.
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Protection of Workers’ Rights: Laftit emphasized that new contracts for public transport management include social clauses requiring companies to comply with labor laws, and these companies will be monitored by labor inspections to ensure employee rights are upheld.
The minister noted that studies are currently underway to develop transport networks in cities such as Rabat, Marrakech, Tangier, and Fez, funded by the same fund.
