Children at Cité des Enseignants School in Dakar, Senegal, will reach their classrooms more safely, thanks to targeted advocacy by LASER International using its Mobility Snapshot.
The school is located beside a major intersection along Dakar’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor. During peak hours, 1,371 pedestrians walk this space near the school, shops, and office buildings, Yet, the speed limit is 50 km/h, despite Senegal’s recent law mandating 30 km/h limits around schools. Footpaths are blocked and badly maintained, and there is no pedestrian crossing on the side road and no traffic calming. Awa Ndeye Sarr, President of LASER International, says “There are no pedestrian crossings, no segregation between pedestrians and vehicles, and the pupils have to cross where the buses turn unsafely on the road.”
With the data provided by the Mobility Snapshot, LASER International engaged the main urban transport authorities, including the Executive Council for Sustainable Urban Transport (CETUD), which implements and monitors urban public transport sector policy for the Dakar region; Dakar Mobilité, the BRT system operator; and AGEROUTE Sénégal, which is responsible for carrying out all construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance works on roads. LASER International arranged meetings and presented the data from the Mobility Snapshot, as well as the recommended improvements from the iRAP star-rating analysis of the Mobility Snapshot.
As a result of these efforts, the recommendations were presented to the Minister of Infrastructure and Land and Air Transport, who approved the project. CETUD committed to carry out the recommended interventions, including footpaths, a signalized pedestrian crossing on the side road, traffic calming, and a 30 km/h limit; with the aim of upgrading the school zone to at least a 3-star safety rating for pedestrians, according to the iRAP classification. Dakar Mobilité also committed to work with CETUD and LASER International to coordinate the actions. The planned safety improvements are scheduled for completion by the end of June 2025, which will be an important step towards protecting pedestrians in their daily journeys.
But the impact of this initiative goes beyond a single location. CETUD and Dakar Mobilité have also agreed to collaborate with LASER International to assess and improve road safety around 10 other schools along the BRT corridor. Each of these schools will be targeted to achieve a minimum 3-star safety level, significantly expanding the reach of the initiative and protecting more students across the region.
This success story highlights how evidence-based action can turn local challenges into meaningful progress. By using tools like the Mobility Snapshot to identify risks and advocate for evidence-based solutions, LASER International has shown that data is a powerful driver of change.
LASER International’s Mobility Snapshot advocacy was supported through a small grant from TotalEnergies Foundation.
