Editing Transport in Mali (section)

== Highways ==
{{seealso|Trans-Sahelian Highway}}
[[Image:Mali - local transport.jpg|thumb|250px|A typical highway scene in Mali.]]
Mali had a road network totaling about 18,563 kilometers in 2000, including about 4,450 kilometers of paved roads. Mali's main economic link to the coast is a paved road between Bamako and [[Abidjan]] in [[Côte d’Ivoire]]. The [[European Development Fund]] is financing
construction of a road linking Bamako and [[Dakar]], [[Senegal]]. The [[African Development Bank]] is funding the construction of a road linking Bamako and [[Kankan]] in [[Guinea]]. There are also plans for a trans-Saharan road linking Mali with [[Algeria]].<ref name=cp />

In general, road conditions outside of urban areas are hazardous, especially at night. Because of isolation, poor road conditions, and the prevalence of banditry, overland travel to the north of Mali is regarded as especially dangerous. Flying or traveling by boat is reported to be preferable where possible. Many of Mali's major thoroughfares in the north are little more than desert tracks with long isolated stretches.<ref name=cp />

===Urban transport===
Because rate of automobile ownership is low, and formal government run public transit is sparse, informal buses and taxis abound in Malian urban centers. [[Bamako]] in particular is known for its green and yellow taxi fleet. Other vehicles, including trucks, buses, motorcycles and mini-vans, function as taxis. In recent years small motorcycles, imported from China and most lacking licenses, have come to dominate much of Bamako's traffic.  Inexpensive motorbikes are often the only affordable transport in Mali, with Chinese made bikes selling for US$700.<ref>[http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-08/2007-08-27-voa35.cfm Chinese Motorcycles Flood West Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215161307/http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-08/2007-08-27-voa35.cfm |date=15 December 2008 }}. Kari Barber, Voice of America. 27 August 2007.</ref>

While the government formally requires licensing for both motorcycles and their operators, these rules are largely ignored.  Some 500,000 motorcycles were estimated to be operating in Mali in 2009, with two-thirds of them inexpensive Chinese made cycles, known locally as "Jakarta"s, which boast better fuel economy but fewer safety features than more expensive Japanese or Western brands.<ref>[http://www.newstatesman.com/africa/2009/06/motorcyclists-mali-bamako Motorcycle diaries]. Bryony Parker, The New Statesman. 18 June 2009.</ref>

In the 1990s, Bamako banned horse carts, which caused an increase in hand carts on the streets.  Recent road construction has included separated lanes for two wheeled (carts, bicycles, motorcycles), four wheeled, and pedestrian traffic.<ref>Paul Starkey. [http://www4.worldbank.org/afr/ssatp/Resources/HTML/Gender-RG/Source%20%20documents/Technical%20Reports/SSATP/TESSA1%20Local%20Transport%20Solutions%20Starkey.pdf  Local Transport Solutions: People, Paradoxes and Progress. Lessons Arising from the Spread of Intermediate Means of Transport]. SSATP Working Paper No. 56. Sub–Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program: The World Bank and Economic Commission for Africa. The World Bank (May 2001). pp. 39–40</ref>

===Road fatalities===
Motor vehicle accidents are relatively common on Mali's roads. The Malian Equipment and Transport Ministry reported that the first half of 2008 saw 254 deaths and 1,924 injuries on Mali's roads, following on 579 deaths in 2007 and 642 in 2006.  The government has pledged 15 billion CFAF in 2009 to fund road safety, and has pledged to create a national road security agency to control highway traffic.<ref>[http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/254-people-killed-in-car-accidents-in-mali-in-2008-2008123018506.html 254 people killed in car accidents in Mali in 2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722141425/http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/254-people-killed-in-car-accidents-in-mali-in-2008-2008123018506.html |date=22 July 2011 }}.  PANA Press, 30 December 2008.</ref>

===Police corruption===
While police control barriers are a common sight on African highways, and while illicit demands for bribes at such stops are common in many countries, the main Malian highway heading south from [[Bamako]] to the [[Burkina Faso]] border was singled out in late 2008 as the worst in West Africa.  A survey by the Observatory of Abnormal Practices (OPA) of the [[West African Economic and Monetary Union]] (WAEMU) found the Malian section of this road to have the highest number of police roadblocks with the highest average amount paid in bribes per trip in West Africa. An average of twenty-nine roadblocks, almost 4 for every 100&nbsp;km, were reported from June to September 2008. The amount paid in bribes in the Mali section (per trip) was CFA F 31,509. Also at Bamako airport is common to ask for CFA 40.000 to be allowed to leave the country. While in other nations the customs officials were responsible for most stops, in Mali, [[gendarmerie]] (National paramilitary police) and the Police force were found creating the majority of bribe extorting roadblocks