Morocco to Buy 3,800 New Buses for Public Transport

Morocco's Interior Minister, Abdelouafi Laftit, has unveiled a plan to modernize urban and semi-urban public transport in Morocco, with total investments of 11 billion dirhams over the 2025-2029 period, according to Alyaoum24. The plan includes the purchase of 3,800 new buses equipped with smart systems, along with new depots, bus stops and maintenance centers.

Laftit gave the figures while presenting the Interior Ministry's 2027 draft budget to the Interior Committee of the House of Representatives. He said the ministry has put in place a new model for managing urban and semi-urban bus transport, aimed at improving service quality and ensuring its sustainability, while preserving the financial balance of contracts and maintaining the social fare that millions of daily riders rely on.

As part of rolling out the program, the minister announced the launch of tenders to acquire 513 buses, covering the remaining batch of the first phase, alongside the start of infrastructure works linked to transport facilities in several cities and the creation of delegated companies to manage urban transport in some areas. The announcement comes just days after the Transport Ministry unveiled exceptional financial support for road transport professionals, reflecting broader government action on the transport sector in recent weeks.

How much has the state already spent on reforming urban transport?

Laftit said resources of the Fund to Support Urban Public Transport Reform reached a total of 18 billion dirhams as of June 30, 2026, while the total support disbursed by the fund neared 13 billion dirhams. The Interior Ministry's own contribution to financing the fund between 2014 and 2026 stood at about 8.67 billion dirhams, underlining the scale of public money already poured into the sector before this new batch of buses.

What does this mean for bus riders in Moroccan cities?

For the everyday rider, the new program means newer buses fitted with smart trip-tracking systems and better-equipped stops, without touching the current social fare. Laftit also confirmed the ministry continues to support local authorities in drawing up their sustainable urban mobility plans: 13 plans have already been completed in 12 cities, seven more cities are preparing or updating theirs, at a total cost of about 181 million dirhams of which roughly 93 million dirhams is funded by the ministry, while five additional cities are about to launch their studies. On rural school transport, the ministry is working with partners on a reform strategy to modernize the service and fix shortcomings in its governance and financing.

The source did not name the specific cities that will directly benefit from the new buses or the announced infrastructure, with the minister speaking only in general terms of "several cities" and "some areas," pending further details when tenders open for the 513 remaining buses of the first phase.