Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
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Acknowledgement I
Executive summary II
List of Abbreviation III
List of Tables and Figures IV
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Transportation System in Mauritius 1
1.1.1 Traffic Congestion Issues 1
1.1.2 Quality Deficiencies in the Bus Services 2
1.1.3 Parking Problem in City Center 2
1.1.4 Safety and security 2
1.1.5 Others 2
References 12
1 Introduction
Life in today’s Mauritius was built on a degree of continuity, of some certainty and understanding of
the success of the past; it was largely based on sugar cane cultivation, textile manufacturing and the
EPZ and more recently tourism. In tomorrow’s Mauritius, there will be a need for more flexibility, to
adapt to new circumstances and markets quickly and to build on the opportunities offered by an
increasingly-global economy. As the economy has grown, vehicle ownership has risen rapidly: car
registrations per 1000 population have increased by 34% since 1994 - a rate equivalent to over 50% in
the last ten years. To overcome this issue there has been the need for government intervention from
introducing an alternative mode of transport.
probably been some growth in employment in the city centre, but the predominant reason for the
congestion is incontestably the growing use of cars.
1.1.2 Quality Deficiencies in the Bus Services
The bus industry has been deteriorating for many years. In particular, the operation of buses by a
mixture of private companies, individual operators and public corporation which has lead to a
regulatory system that is restrictive and lacks the ability to encourage a responsive bus service. The
government has tried to keep bus fares as low as possible but the result has been, in general, an
unsatisfactory level of service, although there are exceptions. Most of the buses in Mauritius are
unsuited to urban conditions, many of them are poorly maintained, driving behaviour care little about
passenger’s comfort, there is little information about routes and times, and bus stations are often
unattractive and unpleasant. As a result, the public image of the bus industry is poor and most people
are obviously glad to escape the buses as soon as they can acquire their own transport.
1.1.5 Others
There are other key issues that the transportation in Mauritius is facing which are as follows:
• Traffic Management measures are not implemented constantly,
• Little attention is being devoted to road maintenance as it cost huge amount of capital,
• The volume of road accident is increasing due to a rise in the traffic especially in the town.
The project has been conceived as a BOT (Built Operating Transfer) concession, with maximum
participation of the private sector. It is also clear that the public sector will need to make a substantial
financial contribution to the project which will have a total cost of Rs6.1 millions over 3-4 years, for
which the government is contributing Rs3.4 millions and the Rs3.1 millions remain for the private
sector.
Major estimates of the different costs are as follows:
Infrastructures (Including land and relocation of Utilities) Rs2, 906 millions
Installation and equipment Rs1, 421 millions
Rolling Stock (Trains) Rs1, 848 millions
Total Rs6, 175 millions
The highest cost of LRS installations is related primarily to the cost of electrification. The Study has
recommended a much more active approach on the government’s part, including the establishment of a
properly resourced project management unit, with adequate technical and administrative skills to
ensure that the project is implemented in such a way that the desired policy objectives can be
achieved. Moreover the fares of the rail ticket will be 10% higher than the actual bus fares which will
reach approximately Rs23-24 compared to the normal bus fares. So the government of Mauritius is
refining the project in details, analyzing the viability (more than Feasibility study) to know exactly at
what level they need to invest in this project for which the rollingstock to remain for the private sector.
3.1Economic Evaluation
pollution that exists in Port Louis and that of the LRS? Study is being done in these areas, alleviation
measures will be taken to reduce the noise to the minimum. There might be the creation of a buffer
Zones along the route, controlling the set-back of buildings which may be from 10-20m allowing
space for landscaping with pedestrian and allocate space for LRS interchanges and this will be
particularly useful in minimizing the ground vibration from the LRS. It has been found that LRS
(electric) has less impact in terms of noise with 78-84 dBA (Lmax) compared to bus system with 85-
88 dBA (Lmax). All these issues finally give an advantage to the LRS.
Corporation (NTC), United Bus Services (UBS) and Rose Hill Transport (RHT).The impact are
clearly indicated in the latest National Transport Authority (NTA) statistics as shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Impact of the LRS Project on the Bus Company Employment
Scenario Statistic Company
NTC UBS RHT Total
From the table above we can imagine what impact will there be in the unemployment figure of
Mauritius in the year 2010 only with the introduction of the Light Railway System. The figure 907 can
be compared with the staffing requirement of around 360 for the LRS thus there will be net
redundancies of 547 which is quite an alarming number. It is recommended that a suitable
compensation package, probably similar to that currently being negotiated for the sugar industry VRS
will be included in the budget of the project.
REFERENCES