As part of its mission to transmit the history of the automobile in Algeria, COCKPITdz presents you a file on the History of public transport in Algeria, daily we will publish a series of articles relating to each type of urban public transport from the end of the 19th century to the present day.
We have classified the order of diffusion in alphabetical order of the most popular means of transport in Algeria and is as follows:
Algeria equipped itself very early, and at the same time as Europe, with a modern urban public transport system. A story that began at the end of the 18th century.
During colonization, several concessionary companies, most often subsidiaries of metropolitan companies, ensured the transport of passengers within urban and suburban perimeters.
The first transport reorganization plan was in fact launched in 1928. At the time, three private tramway companies each operated a line and competed with each other. But these surface lines hindered car traffic and were very slow, they were replaced by trolleybuses from 1935. The plan already provided for the creation of an underground metro line crossing the city on its east-west axis as well as a series of funicular lines serving the hills and connected to the main line. The divergences between neighboring municipalities as well as the economic crisis of the 1930s ultimately did not allow the project to see the light of day. An underground diversion line for the tramway lines was then proposed, again without success.
In Algiers, three companies shared the market:
- Chemins de Fer sur les Routes d'Algérie (C.F.R.A).
- Société des Tramways Algérois (S.T.A.)
- Transports et Messagerie du Sahel (T.M.S.). The T.M.S and the C.F.R.A. merged in 1936. Then the C.F.R.A. became the Régie des Transports d'Alger (R.D.T.A.) in 1954.
It was not until 1950 and the implementation of real urban planning policies in Algiers that public transport became a political priority again. The RATP was commissioned by the Algiers city hall to resume studies from 1953, and presented its plan for the reorganization of transport in the Algiers region in 1955. The transport companies merged in 1959 to form the Régie syndicale des Transports Algérois (RSTA), which managed the bus, trolleybus and tramway networks in Algiers.
The independence of 1962 put an end to the project in view of the transfer of power to the new Algerian authorities. The country faced new challenges and priorities, transport took second place after health and education. The means and ambitions were no longer the same, the situation was even more dramatic since the tramways were no longer operational due to the disappearance of the overhead copper lines and the technical specificities of Algiers that we will explain to you in the previous articles and which made the resale of the locomotives improbable, it was necessary to resolve to demolish them to make room. Added to this was the departure of qualified European personnel which would lead to a lack in the management of the companies responsible for public transport. It was necessary to relearn and reorganize through new employees and training.
The anarchic development of the city continued until the 1980s. At that time, a large-scale urban plan was finally put in place and the municipality considered new expansion policies. The idea is to slow down urban development in the fertile plains to safeguard agriculture in the region. In return, it is planned to turn to the western reliefs, although construction there is more complex and costly.
This change in urban policy will have consequences on the organization of transport and therefore on the route of future metro and tramway lines. The needs are indeed enormous in Algiers, car traffic is constantly slowed down and traffic jams daily. Algiers suffers from a daily invasion of its center by cars far too numerous for the capacity of the road.
As for public transport, it is still mainly provided by bus. Most of the termini are located in the center. Blocked by car traffic, the bus service is therefore very slow, irregular and overused by users. Faced with these shortcomings, the Urban and Suburban Transport Company of Algiers (ETUSA) was created in 1995 to replace the former RSTA.
Thus, after the abandonment of the tram and trolleybus lines, the RSTA was the only public transport operator until the sector was opened to the private sector by decree in February 1987. The dominance of the private sector in public transport allows for a slight increase in the transport offer but prevents any overall and concerted improvement of the situation. In the 2000s, marked by the return of economic growth, the public authorities, via the Ministry of Transport, relaunched the public company under the name "Entreprise de Transport Urbain et Suburbain d'Alger (ETUSA)" in order to upgrade its infrastructure.
In the rest of the country, the situation seems to be similar, even if the resources deployed are significantly lower than those of Algiers, which has a dual function as the political capital of the country and the economic center, and is also by far the most populated city in Algeria.
But before talking about the history of urban public transport in Algeria, we will tell you about its history in the world.
Urban public transport It was invented in France in 1662 by Blaise Pascal. He obtained from Louis XIV the privilege of founding a public carriage company for the operation of five "routes" (lines) with horse-drawn carriages that were made available to the public for a fee. This service was quickly followed by similar transport services in other European cities.
The first steam-powered public transport service was introduced in England in 1820. The service was operated by George Shillibeer and used a steam omnibus to transport passengers between Paddington and Bank in London.
The first public bus system was introduced in Nantes, France, by Stanislas Baudry in 1826. These omnibuses (from the Latin for "for all") were horse-drawn carriages that could carry up to 16 passengers. The public response was enthusiastic and the idea quickly caught on.
The 1830s saw the introduction of trams in cities around the world. These early trams were drawn by horses and were known as horse-drawn carriages. By the late 1800s, many cities had replaced their tram systems with electric trams.
The first trams were operated in the United States of America, but the exact date of their appearance is uncertain. It is known that the circulation of omnibuses in the 1820s and 1830s was particularly difficult on roads in poor condition. It therefore seemed desirable to find a more regular rolling system and the idea of using rails came naturally. The first omnibuses running on rails that were then projecting appeared around 1832 in New York (Harlem). The new vehicle was called the "Streetcar". The improvement was notable and other networks were built in the United States. But the profile of the projecting rail hindered general traffic and the idea was temporarily abandoned.
In 1852, a French entrepreneur, Alphonse Loubat, living in the United States, had the idea of improving the rail so that it was embedded in the roadway. Thus, the inconvenience and danger of the projecting rail was eliminated. A new line was built on Broadway in New York. The success of the new system gave the tramways opportunities for rapid development and several cities built their network (Boston, Philadelphia ...).
The Taxi as we know it today appeared with the advent of the automobile.
In 1897, Gottlieb Daimler built the world's first taxi, the Daimler Victoria. The taxi was equipped with the new taximeter. On June 16, 1897, the Daimler Victoria taxi was delivered to Friedrich Greiner, a Stuttgart entrepreneur who founded the world's first motorized taxi company.
In Paris, in 1899, entrepreneur Georges Bouton introduced the first internal combustion engine taxi capable of carrying up to four passengers and in 1904, Louis Renault launched a first two-cylinder model in Paris focused on the taxi.
The first subway system opened in New York City in 1902. The line ran from City Hall to Harlem and used electric trains. This was soon followed by the opening of subway systems in other major cities, including London and Paris.
The first modern commuter train service was introduced in Japan in 1956. The service, known as the Tōkaidō Main Line, ran between Tokyo and Osaka and used high-speed trains. This service set the standard for modern commuter train systems around the world.
In 2009, the appearance in a new form of the V.T.C. and new name Tourist Vehicle with Driver and now even Without Driver, broadened the offer of public transport by making it customizable and fast, in particular thanks to modern communication tools and new legislation.
Thus, since all this time, public transport has not stopped reinventing itself.
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