By Mohamed El Halaissi, Municipal Councilor, Agadir, Morocco Presented at Transforming Transportation 2016

1. www.TransformingTransportation.org
Transforming Transportation
Through Cooperation
Mohamed El Halaissi, Municipal Councilor,
Agadir, Morocco
Presented at Transforming Transportation 2016

2. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI,Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
2016
Transforming Transportation Through Cooperation
Washington, DC - Jan 14-15, 2016

3. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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Agadir is the Metropolis of The Souss-Massa Region
- Second economic pole of the country
- First fishing port and seaside resort of the country
- A strong agricultural activity (mainly greens and vegetable)
- A fragmented conurbation of 1.000.000 inhabitants
- Main mobility mode : walking !(48%)
A city located in Southern Morocco, on the Atlantic Ocean

4. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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Nantes metropolitan area:
- 24 municipalities
- 50 km from the Atlantic Ocean
- Area: 524 km²
- Inhabitants: 600 000
Public Transport:
3 tram lines.1 BRT style bus ( 7 ). 51 Bus lines. 2 River
shuttles.
27.3 Mkm per year. 130.4M travels per year

5. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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Agadir and Nantes
Cooperation
• At the beginning (1960): cultural and youth exchanges, then, work on social issues.
• Around 2000: political decision to go further on more technical issues . First study on tram line feasability.
• 2004: call for project co-launched by the Moroccan and French governments on urban issues focused on
knowledge acquisition.
• 2005: Agadir and Nantes decide to make a proposal on mobility issues.
• 2006: Agadir and Nantes project is selected.
- Beginning of a new period of cooperation.

6. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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• Population:
1982: 235 000 inhabitants
Today: about 1 000 000 inhabitants
• Growing congestion:
More and more cars
Taxis (collective and individual): non organised
• A bus network: old and not efficient
What we started from

7. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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- Goal of the convention: launch of a call for tender to
design urban mobility plan for the Agadir
- 1st objective: creation of a mobility department with
dedicated technicians, offices and working tools.
Common work: mainly on the ground.
First convention between the two cities
First phase -1-

8. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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First phase -2-
• Definitions of the TOR for an Agadir Urban
Mobility Plan
• Launch of the call for tender

9. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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Second phase -1-
• A reference: the Busway in Nantes
• A lot of common work to do
• On the ground: people are first curious of what will happen, then
get very interested, the opportunity to start communicating !
Second convention: gather conditions to build a Bus with a High Level of Service

10. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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Training session in France
• In Nantes:
Busway (launched in 2006)
Chronobus (on going project)
• In Saint-Nazaire:
The BRT Helyce (on going project)
Second phase -1-

11. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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A welcomed support from the French government
FASEP funds – 1 069 000 €:
Feasibility studies for the first 10 km:
Technical, Environmental and social, Economic and
Financial, Institutional
Second phase -2-

12. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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Second phase -2- The 1st Agadir High Level of Service Bus line project
• A route: 15 km from the port to Tikiouine serving the city center and the university
• A budget: 801 MDh, infrastructures and vehicles

13. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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•Searching for project financing
•Engage the SDL team: need to find right competences
•Call for the project management
•Network restructuring and fare integration
•Ensure a good contracting authority support
Next steps: a lot to do yet, but… Possible now to imagine !
June 2015: a new convention for the coming 6 years signed in Nantes. An official ceremony will be
held in return in Agadir on Mars 2016 with the new elected Major.

14. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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Key factors of success
First of all: people!
Build a strong Moroccan/French team, including studies officer, technicians and politicians. Volunteer,
with mutual confidence.
Work on the ground together: very important to have the same reading/feeling and knowledge of the
public space.
Being ambitious: work on a true and clear large bodied project, that can motivate people involved in.
But pragmatic: draw on Nantes experience, but take into account local conditions and structures
(environmental, social, economics, institutional), and as far as possible, find some concrete solutions
that can be implemented easily to solve some specific point all along the global work needed to reach a
- rather - long term objective.
To be good at explaining things and adaptable: beyond carrying out infrastructures or studies,
knowledge acquisition has to be at the heart of the cooperation. Again, training on the ground is very
important
Around the project: a favorable context that had seen a convergence between States and Cities will.

15. Transforming Transportation 2016 - Washington, DC | Jan 14-15, 2016 – By Mohamed EL HALAISSI Municipal councilor of Agadir city - Morocco
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Barriers and limits
Decision makers: difficulties to understand who is the actual authority, at which level (national government/
wilaya/urban community…) choices are decided, and finances are allocated?
One thing for sure: this is not at all the same system for the two cities!
Necessity of a strong team means a long term team, that can’t be always the case (people move,
technicians like politicians). There are high and low phases. Some disruptions are inevitable, don’t be
disheartened!
And time! On that moment they are principally four technicians from Nantes working with Agadir, coming
about 3 or 4 times a year. Depending of the period, they work 1 to 4 days per months at their Nantes
offices.
Nantes Metropole elected people are convinced of the validity of their commitment for a strong cooperation.
Thankfully! Because accompanying authority support is requiring staff involvment and investment, and
continuous evaluation.

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Thank you