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Mohammedia – Morocco has initiated the first phase of its 2025–2029 National Urban Bus Transport Program, aimed at modernising the country’s public mobility system.
Younes El Kasmi, Director of Urban Mobility and Transport and Governor at the Interior Ministry, announced that around 1,000 buses will be received by late October or early November. A total of 1,487 buses are scheduled for this first phase.
This stage is focused on areas like Tangier, Tetouan, Fès, Rabat, Benslimane, Marrakech, and Agadir, as well as the surrounding cities of Fnideq, Assilah, Tamansourt, Benguerir, and Inzegane Aït Melloul. These zones count 29 cities and urban concentrations that will be addressed by the program.
The project also encompasses the introduction of smart ticketing and passenger-information systems (SAEIV), and the setting up of maintenance centres for fleet sustainability.
Bus services are to be run by professional operators under a delegated-management model targeted at service quality, innovation, and performance — a shift from the traditional municipal control.
Wider reform for urban mobility and governance
The national programme, backed by a budget of around MAD 11 billion, reaches 37 local authorities and a total of 84 cities and urban centers, with an overall target to acquire 3,800 buses.
Coverage will be extended to 18 delegating authorities covering 24 cities, including Dakhla, Guelmim, Oujda, Essaouira, Tinghir, Taounate, and Sidi Bennour, in the second phase.
The third phase will extend over 12 authorities controlling 31 cities, such as Casablanca, Meknès, Khouribga, Laâyoune, Béni Mellal, Nador, El Aroui, El Jadid, and Azemmour, and will add 1,482 buses to enhance public urban transport systems.
This large project is in line with the royal instructions contained in the December 2024 message of King Mohammed VI to the Second National Assises on Advanced Regionalisation in Tangier, which called for inclusive and environmentally friendly transport systems in order to curb social and spatial inequalities.
El Kasmi explained that the programme sets the stage for a new model of urban mobility governance at the service of citizens throughout regions.
The reform tackles long-standing challenges in Moroccan urban transport, where aging vehicle fleets, overcrowding, and irregular service have strained daily mobility.
A recent project in Fès, for example, mobilized 250 new buses, a ticketing system, and a maintenance centre under the same national framework.
In addition to this effort, Morocco signed agreements for 723 Yutong buses to be delivered progressively, contributing to the renewal of the fleet under this first stage of implementation.
The program falls under a national mobility strategy that seeks to enhance infrastructure, integrate digital solutions, and ensure sustainable urban development across the kingdom.
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