BRT and BHNS: An Opportunity to Structure African Cities
By Julien Allaire - International Director – Transitec: Mobility in the Right Direction
As BRT and BHNS projects multiply across Africa, the challenge goes far beyond the question of mobility alone. Drawing on the “Transitec BDD Transport Capacitaire 2025” database, which inventories mass transit infrastructure across the continent, this article shows how these systems can guide urban growth and improve access to jobs and services. Their success, however, depends on their coordination with urban planning and their integration into existing networks through multimodal transport hubs designed as genuine urban centres.
Compared with Latin America and Asia, Africa has experienced slow development of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems over the past 25 years. The first BRT projects emerged in Lagos in 2008 in a “light” version resembling a High Level of Service Bus system (BHNS), followed by Johannesburg in 2009 and Cape Town in 2011. As of 1 January 2025, the number of operational projects remained relatively modest: four South African cities had BRT systems in operation, alongside Dar es Salaam and Dakar. Of the slightly more than 1,100 km of mass transit infrastructure in operation on the African continent, BRT accounted for only 11%¹. Urban and suburban rail represented the largest proportion of the network length, particularly due to the lines operating in North Africa.
However, in recent years, BRT projects — which aim to carry as many passengers as a metro along a dedicated corridor, with lower investment costs and shorter construction times — have multiplied. They have benefited from the support of funding institutions (particularly the World Bank, the French Development Agency and the African Development Bank), which seek to replicate Latin American and Asian successes in Africa.
Today, many African capitals are undergoing construction works. At the beginning of 2025, nearly 250 km of BRT were under construction (notably in Abidjan, Cairo, Nairobi and Addis Ababa). There were also 281 km of infrastructure under study (notably in Kano and Kaduna in Nigeria, Douala and Yaoundé in Cameroon, and Maputo in Mozambique). In addition, there are BHNS lines, which have lower passenger capacity, as they aim to accommodate almost as many passengers on buses as a tramway line. In 2025, 36 km of BHNS were under construction (in Nouakchott and Casablanca) and 122 km were under study.
If all these projects are completed by 2035, the length of BRT infrastructure should increase fivefold across the continent, while the number of kilometres of BHNS should be multiplied by 2.7. BRT would then represent 26% of the length of dedicated public transport infrastructure across the continent (10% for BHNS), and 39% in sub-Saharan Africa (10% for BHNS). Although encouraging, these figures remain relatively modest in view of the expected surge in demand for urban mobility in African cities by the middle of the 21st century.
It is therefore essential to accelerate the identification and implementation of projects. However, particular attention must be paid to the design of these projects to ensure their economic efficiency. To guarantee the long-term success of BRT projects and maximise their contribution to improving living conditions in urban areas, African decision-makers must pay particular attention to issues of coordination with urban planning, on the one hand, and integration with existing systems, on the other.
BRT projects are intended to structure the territory in large urban agglomerations, just as BHNS systems can do in intermediate-sized cities. BRT and BHNS projects must channel urban expansion by structuring the territory along corridors. They can thus provide access to emerging urban development hubs. These mass transit projects must therefore be accompanied by urban densification along the corridors. Contrary to popular belief, this densification should not be envisaged for residential purposes. It should make it possible to concentrate jobs (services, commerce, education, healthcare, etc.) to improve accessibility.
By becoming the backbone of the urban public transport system, these BRT and BHNS systems contribute to establishing a hierarchy within the public transport offer. This must necessarily lead to network integration and the simplification of interconnections with other transport services. The development of Multimodal Transport Hubs (PEM) is therefore necessary. It must be accompanied by a policy to modernise informal transport systems, which generally predominate in sub-Saharan African cities. But from an urban planning perspective, these multimodal transport hubs must become new urban centres, connected to the commercial activities traditionally concentrated around stations, and revitalising the surrounding neighbourhood through public spaces designed for active mobility.
Development of BRT and BHNS Networks (2025–2035)
[1] Transitec has developed a database called “Transitec BDD Transport Capacitaire 2025”, which records the length of dedicated public transport infrastructure — suburban rail, metro, light rail transit (tramways, light metro), BRT, BHNS and cable transport — in operation, under construction or under study in cities across the African continent. This inventory was carried out during 2024.
Note
The French acronym BHNS has been retained to remain faithful to the original article and its graphs. For an international readership, it can be explained as “High Level of Service Bus.”
This article written in French was translated using a.i.
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