MAPUTO, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A bus rapid transit project (BRT) will be implemented in Mozambique's capital city Maputo from 2023 to alleviate the pressure on public transport and ensure greater mobility in the Greater Maputo region, the city's municipal council announced on Thursday.
The idea of a BRT system in Maputo was first created in 2014 but never got off the ground due to the interruption of financial support. The resurrected project will cost 250 million U.S. dollars funded by the World Bank and is expected to be concluded in 2024, according to Jose Nicols, Maputo's Municipal Councilor for Mobility, Transport and Transit.
"We are actually going to implement the BRT project, and a corridor was detected that runs from downtown Maputo to Matola Gare," said Nicols, speaking to the press in Maputo.
The councilor said corridors, exclusive lanes, and terminals will be built for public transport buses.
"We are going to introduce a segregated transport lane and we expect to be carrying 104,000 passengers a day," said Nicols.
The BRT system, being part of the Urban Mobility Project for the Metropolitan Area of Maputo, is to improve the mobility and accessibility along the selected corridors in the Maputo metropolitan area, according to a document published by the city's Metropolitan Transport Agency in May. ■