Meeting with the Mayor of Antananarivo

The Codatu team (Jean-Jacques Helluin, Executive Director, and Karine Andriamiraho, Head of the Indian Ocean Office) met with the Mayor of Antananarivo, Harilala Ramanantsoa, on 24 April. Discussions focused on the professionalisation of paratransit by minibus (Taxi-be), on which Codatu has been working for two years as part of the ‘Zotra Fitaratra’ pilot project, led by the Ministry of Transport and funded by the Agence Française de Développement.

Jean-Jacques Helluin recalled that the initial project originated with the Urban Commune of Antananarivo, which in 2008 launched the PAMU (Urban Mobility Improvement Programme) as part of decentralised cooperation with the Ile-de-France Region, which was well ahead of current practices and concepts on informal transport reform. It is on the basis of the excellent work carried out at the time that the current pilot project is moving forward, with the idea of launching a first phase on the new By-pass/Ankorondrano ring road.

Another key issue for future transport in the Antananarivo urban area is governance and financing. The proliferation of projects (cable car, train, 300 buses, sustainable urban mobility plan, active modes, new roads, etc.) requires the establishment of a structure for the authority at the Greater Antananarivo level and the identification of sustainable financing. Codatu and the mayor agreed to continue discussions on these issues, which are crucial when analysing the success of major cities around the world in terms of sustainable urban mobility.