Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Philippe Moreira is a maverick on the streets of Dakar.
00:03Every day, the 58-year-old doctor gets on his bike and makes his commute to work,
00:08braving smog, heat and sometimes drivers who are not always happy about sharing the road.
00:19On the road, there's an issue with how drivers behave
00:22because they still don't consider cyclists as part of the traffic.
00:26So we face a lot of challenges and have to be extremely cautious around cars.
00:35Moreira is one of a growing breed of Senegalese cyclists,
00:38doing it out of pleasure rather than necessity.
00:41His cycling club Velopassion has doubled in size to over 500 members in the past five years.
00:47But many would-be commuters are nervous about getting into the saddle.
00:51Some, like lawyer Muriel Ndiaye, take classes to prepare them for the task,
00:55though they don't lack enthusiasm.
00:58My goal would really be to cycle to work, to stay active and fit
01:02while handling my daily responsibilities.
01:04So why not go to work by bike?
01:08Some, such as in this club, keep their cycling for the weekend when traffic is lighter.
01:13They too complain about insufficient infrastructure,
01:16which means they must do battle with motorised vehicles.
01:22We as cyclists don't even heed the bike lanes.
01:26There's a bike lane, but instead of using it, we end up riding on the main road.
01:30So it's good to have bike lanes ideally with signs that clearly show where they are.
01:35The problem is that we actually have to share these lanes with motorbikes.
01:43Dakar's urban transport agency aims to construct a 175-kilometre cycling lane network by 2035
01:50but the first 12-kilometre section has been delayed for several months.
01:54Cyclists want authorities to do more to improve road safety
01:58and encourage people in urban areas to cycle, a cost-effective way of cutting emissions.