CAN 2025 : Tension in Rabat between taxis, traffic jams and stranded passengers

The image is tarnished as Morocco hosts the continent. Since the start of the competition, the main taxi stations in the capital have experienced critical saturation. While the authorities have tried to anticipate by strengthening the bus lines and raising awareness among professionals, the field tells another story. The drivers point to a glaring lack of buses to cope with the tide of supporters, exacerbated by a crippling road congestion around the stadiums, particularly near the Moulay El Hassan complex. Faced with these traffic jams, one practice is exasperating citizens: the refusal to take passengers. Many taxi drivers are deserting certain usual routes, considered too congested, leaving passengers without a solution.

For the UMT union, whose representative was interviewed by Hespress, the drivers are the first victims of poor road management. The union representative explains that without dedicated lanes - a request made before the tournament - taxis are trapped in traffic like private vehicles. The calculation is quickly made: accepting a 30 dirham fare that will take an hour due to the traffic jams becomes a losing operation, once fuel and the daily revenue due to the license owner are deducted. For the professionals, the solution lay in the creation of exclusive routes to streamline the rotations, a request that remained unanswered.

This economic argument does not sit well with consumer advocates. Ali Chtour, president of the Moroccan Association for the Defense of Consumer Rights, denounces an unacceptable "disengagement". For him, holding a public transport license imposes a service obligation, regardless of traffic conditions. He calls on the local authorities to crack down to put an end to what he describes as anarchy, believing that the success of this continental celebration requires sacrifices from everyone, far from the sole logic of immediate profit. He even invites users to get into vehicles without asking the destination in advance, recalling that the refusal to sell is illegal.