POLLUTION

One of the biggest problems of our era is facing pollution. The transport sector has a great impact on the environment, with the emission of nitrous oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere.

According to the World Health Organization the air quality in Morocco is unsafe. The factors that contribute to this fact include all the vehicles and industrial emissions as well as waste burning. Morocco is increasing its emissions of CO2 due to the industrial emissions (burning of fossil fuels). Nevertheless, transport is the main factor that contribute to the CO2 emissions, almost the 15% of the total emissions belong to the transport sector.

Is Marrakesh aware of it? Could improvements be made for a greener city and a more responsible society?

We believe so, and here we propose our solutions

Our mission is to reduce the emissions of CO2 in a maximum of 30 years. In order to get this, we have developed a blueprint to reach the levels of emissions established.

Our objectives

Make sure that all citizens have transportation options that allow access to key areas and services

Improving the protection and security

Reducing air and noise pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumptio

Improving the efficiency and profitability of the transport people and goods

Contribute to improve the attractiveness and the environmental quality in urban areas and urban design for the benefits of citizens, the economy and the society as a whole

Scope

Our proposals cover all modes and means of transport throughout the urban agglomeration, including public and private, passenger, motorized and non-motorized moving and parked

How is going to get done?

Procuring only zero emission buses from 2040 is ambitious but achievable, the deployment of theses buses is going to be little by little. The Kingdom of Morocco will implement 150 each year until 2040. With this strategy, in 2040, Morocco will have 3.000 buses. Cities like Marrakesh, Casablanca, Kenitra, Meknes, Rabat, Tangier will set targets to fully transition their fleets to electric by 2040. This project will bring suppliers and shareholders interested in the zero emission transports.

With the implementation of bicycle lanes we will get less congestion, a economic vitality and a more sustainable environment. We have to create an infrastructure to adapt lanes in the main streets of the country. The lanes will be in a raised pavement and painted in green to know that is the bicycle lane. It will make its findings available to the general public as the project progress.

With regard to the car-sharing, it offers diverse benefits in order to keep the country clean and improve the quality of the air. It decreases congestion and cuts emissions. With this system, the population can reduce their expenses in fuel at the same time they are taking care of the planet

PROJECT

CONTROL

All these projects are going to be controlled by its Government. The Government will make sure that all these proposals are being implemented in order to improve the quality of the environment.

Free transport for people who recycle plastic

After the examples of Istanbul, Rome and Surabaya, Indonesia (Coca, 2019), Marrakesh should be the next city to follow the initiative. People having collected enough plastic bottles can get a free ticket to use the public transport. This is a win-win for the environment and people, especially the inhabitants of the city. Plastic bottles are polluting Marrakesh like many other cities and can be found everywhere. Since they normally are worthless, they are dumped but with this system people would be motivated to recycle them. For that, special machines must be established at least on the most important stations. In Rome you need 30 bottles to get a ticket which is worth 1.50€ (Rome public transport tickets and travel passes, 2020) while in Surabaya you only need five bottles or 10 plastic cups (Coca, 2019).

initiatives

For Marrakesh it would be better to go with the example of the Indonesian city or up to 10 bottles because it should be easy to earn a ticket and comparable to the ticket prices which Marrakech offer. The aim of this campaign is to make the public transport more attractive and get more clients while reducing the number of cars and mopeds. At the same time, plastic can be collected and recycled. A positive side effect would be a beautifying city image and a more sustainable dealing with plastic.

To make this initiative possible, many issues must be settled. The most significant one is the financing. The (city) government would need to bear the costs, or maybe the initiative could be made possible with a public-private partnership. With the latter one the costs would not be such a high obstacle which normally is the matter why those kinds of projects fail. Furthermore, it would be completed in less time. It would take at least two years. Firstly, there has to be found a company being the partner and the bureaucratic burden is always high before the project really starts.

Present

Second year

A preferable partner would be ALSA for example. They have enough resources and knowledge to promote and support the plan. Later, the machines must be purchased, being applied to the project and expectations. It is important to know if only plastic bottles can be used and introduced or also other types and forms of plastic, like cups. For that it is crucial to plan everything with scientist and other specialists in the packaging and sustainability field to know the recycling capability. It is a very complex issue depending on the components of the waste. Furthermore, the plastic must be brought to a recycling centre and processed there, which also has to be included in the expenses.

Depending on the agreement with other companies and institutions the obtained tickets from the machine can be used for example only for the ALSA buses or/and other public transport companies and means. An idea would be to include also trains when introducing more plastic than for example for a bus ticket.

In the end, this strategy and plan to reduce pollution is highly dependent on other parties, their assets, and ideas if the government cannot provide the necessary requirements on its own. Nevertheless, it is a great possibility to improve the city.

Plastic free Machine in Rome. Source: Bevan 2019.

Places where the new machines could be established

Marrakech-Ménara airport

Marrakech Train Station

Marrakech’s Gare Routière (Bab Doukkala)

Other popular stations and stops like in Jemaa el-Fna and neighbourhoods like Gueliz and Hivernage