Casablanca Invests $240 Million to Modernize Public Transit with 700 New Buses

The total cost of these purchases is close to 2.4 billion dirhams, we learn from the newspaper l’Economiste, which states that the city, through its establishments, is thus preparing for the arrival of the next delegatee, the contract with M’dina Bus not having been renewed. If the economic capital is putting so much money, it is because it fears that the next service provider will not be able to bear alone the colossal investment cost of this acquisition.

In detail, the city of Casablanca will acquire 540 buses of a length of 12 meters and 160 of a length of 18 meters for a total cost of some 1.9 billion dirhams. To this is added a complete overhaul of the ticketing system for a provisional amount of 180 million dirhams. In addition, 270 million dirhams will be injected by the city for the implementation of a central control unit and the rehabilitation of bus depots.

To put so much money on the table, the city of Casablanca went knocking on the doors of the Ministries of the Interior and Finance, which contributed one billion dirhams. Added to this are the 245 million dirhams provided by the Casablanca-Settat region and 215 million dirhams by the urban municipality of Casablanca. Moroccan banks have also been called in to provide the rest of the budget.