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Senegalese Buses are Awesome: Check Out This Pimped Out 'Car Rapide'

Mary Slosson
By Mary SlossonMay 18, 2013
Mary Slosson
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[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHTN4PTq8OE

They're ubiquitous in Dakar: the bright blue and yellow car rapide buses that criss-cross Senegal's capital city.

For the uninitiated, Senegal's most popular form of public transportation can be chaotic and overwhelming. The buses, custom made from discarded vehicles by the city's brilliantly inventive mechanics, chug along the streets with the back door open and the driver's assistant shouting out the route.

When you hear your destination, you run up to the bus—they don't always come to a complete stop—and hop on board. When you want to get off, you loudly tap a coin on the ceiling of the bus and hope the driver hears you.

Senegal's car rapides are wonderfully entrepreneurial and dirt cheap. Each is meticulously decorated by the driver, creating a colorful circus of personality on the streets of Dakar.

Dakar knows how to make public transportation and taking the bus fun.

Join us for our Fix Your Street Challenge on the last Saturday of May. Click here to say you'll Do It and be sure to share stories of transportation innovation all month.



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