Editing Transport in Niger (section)

==Highways==
[[File:Nigerroadnetwork.png|thumb|right|400px|The Nigerien road network. Paved roads are in green, "improved" (gravel or laterite) are in solid orange, "pistes" or dirt roads and tracks are orange dashes.]]
[[File:Highway to tahoua 2007 001.jpg|thumb|right|Two tourist vehicles stop for repairs on the main [[Niamey]] - [[Tahoua]] "Route Nationale", 1997.]]
[[File:Blvd Mali Bero from grand mosquee niamey.jpg|thumb|right|Truck and car traffic along Boulevard Mali Bero, Niamey.]]
Outside of cities, the first major paved roads were constructed from the northern town of [[Arlit]] to the [[Benin]] border in the 1970s and 1980s. This road, dubbed the ''Uranium Highway'',<sup>[1]</sup> runs through [[Arlit]], [[Agadez]], [[Tahoua]], [[Birnin-Konni]], and [[Niamey]], and is part of the [[Trans-Sahara Highway]] system.

An additional paved highway runs from Niamey via [[Maradi, Niger|Maradi]] and [[Zinder]] towards [[Diffa]] in the far east of the nation, although the stretch from Zinder to Diffa is only partially paved. Portions of this route are used by the [[Trans-Sahel Highway]] route. The Niger section is 837 km long (of which 600 km were in poor condition as of 2000), via Niamey, [[Dosso, Niger|Dosso]], [[Dogondoutchi]], Birnin-Konni, and Maradi to the [[Nigerian]] border at [[Jibiya]].

Other roads range from all-weather [[laterite]] surfaces to grated dirt or sandpistes, especially in the arid north.

The United States government in 1996 estimated there were a total of 10,100 km of highways in Niger, with 798 km paved and 9,302 km unpaved, but make no distinction between improved or all-weather roads and unimproved roads.<sup>[2]</sup> In 2012, there were 19,675 km (12,225 mi) of road network throughout Niger, of which only 4,225 km (2,625 mi) were paved.<sup>[3]</sup>

===Routes Nationale===
The national road system ("Routes Nationale") is numbered and prefixed with "RN”, as '''RN1'''. The numbering system contains routes or sections which are as yet unpaved or even unimproved tracks. ''Route Nationale no. 25'', for example, is a major paved highway from Niamey to [[Filingué]], follows the partially improved ''Route Nationale no. 26'' towards [[Abala, Niger|Abala]], veers off onto a dirt track (locally called a ''Piste'') from the villages of Talcho to Sanam, where RN26 also terminates from another direction. RN25 then continues along a piste through a largely uninhabited desert for almost 100 km before reaching the city of [[Tahoua]], served by other major paved roads. The main "Uranium Highway" then coincides with the RN25 to [[Arlit]] in the far north. Consequently, the informal names for the routes (e.g., "Uranium Highway") serve a somewhat more practical purpose than the RN numbers.<sup>[1] [2] [3]</sup>

===Road transport===
Nigeriens in both urban and rural areas rely on a combination of motor vehicles and animals for the transport of themselves and commercial goods. Road transport is the major form of travel across the huge distances between Nigerien population centers despite most Nigeriens not owning their own vehicles. In cities, public transport systems are largely absent, so a variety of privately operated services carry many urban dwellers. Vans, cars, motor coaches, trucks, and even converted motorbikes provide paid transport. Intercity coach systems are the standard form of personal transport, with the government operating one bus service (the [[Sociéte Nigerienne de Transports de Voyageurs|SNTV]]) and a multitude of buses, "[[bush taxi]]s" (''taxi brousse''), small vans, and semi-converted trucks taking passengers and goods. Services are sometimes scheduled from the "Highway stations" ("Gares routières") found in every town but are more frequently ad hoc: vehicles ply the trade between towns, picking up at stations or anywhere along the route, and departing only when full.<sup>[1]</sup>

Animals pulling wagons and loaded camel trains remain a common sight on Nigerien roads.<sup>[1]</sup>

===Motor vehicle regulation===
Vehicles in Niger are subject to the "Laws of the Road" ("''Code de la route''”), for which the government began a continuing reform in 2004-2006, which are based substantially on French models.<sup>[1]</sup> Vehicles travel on the right side of the road and roads use French-style signage.<sup>[2]</sup> Routes Nationale is marked with the traditional French [[Milestone]]s: a white tablet with a red top, marked with the route number. Vehicle owners must obtain a registration document (“''carte grise''") and vehicle license plates ("''plaques d’immatriculation''"), which are of similar manufacture to those in [[Guinea]] and [[Mali]].<sup>[3]</sup> License plates usually contain the national code "RN" for international travel.<sup>[4]</sup> Niger is a signatory to the September 1949 [[Geneva Convention on Road Traffic]] and thus honors [[International drivers license|International]] driver’s[[International drivers license|licenses]] from other signatories.<sup>[5]</sup> Drivers’ licenses are regulated through the national Ministry of Transport but issued by local officials.<sup>[6]</sup> Drivers must pass a driver’s test to qualify.<sup>[7]</sup>

A 2009 enforcement blitz in Niamey resulted in numerous arrests of owners of small motorbikes, common in Nigerien cities. One newspaper reported that most riders believed erroneously that there was no license or regulation required by law for motorbikes under 50cc in engine size, although these had been regulated in law since 2002 but not enforced.<sup>[8]</sup> Motorbikes are also common means of public transport in some Nigerien cities. These motorcycles "''taxis motos''", or "''kabu kabu''", are the primary form of taxis in cities like Zinder, Agadez, and Maradi. In Zinder, a 2009 local newspaper report claimed there were no more than "three to five" automobile taxis operating in a diffuse city, which subsequently relies upon the only partially regulated motorcycle taxi sector.<sup>[9]</sup>

===Road safety===
Road accidents have been identified as a major public health concern by the [[Nigerien government|Nigerian government]].  According to [[Chékarou Bagoudou]], Chief of the Division of Road Safety and Security of the [[Nigerien Ministry of Transport]], there were 4338 officially reported road accidents in 2008, with 7443 victims, of which 616 were killed. With the Nigerien government counting 18949&nbsp;km of roads in the nation, this comes to one accident for every five kilometers in 2008. Speaking before a National Assembly session, Bagoudou said that the 42.2 billion CFA francs spent on medical costs for road accident victims accounted for around 25% of the 2008 budget of the [[Nigerien Ministry of Public Health]]. Transport figures concluded that 70% of road accidents were caused by "human factors", 23% by mechanical faults, and 7% by road conditions.<ref name="parlementaire2009">[http://lesahel.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1757:journee-parlementaire-a-lassemblee-nationale-la-question-de-la-securite-routiere-en-debat-a-lhemicycle&catid=34:actualites&Itemid=53 Journée parlementaire à l'Assemblée nationale : la question de la sécurité routière en débat à l'hémicycle] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727030713/http://lesahel.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1757%3Ajournee-parlementaire-a-lassemblee-nationale-la-question-de-la-securite-routiere-en-debat-a-lhemicycle&catid=34%3Aactualites&Itemid=53|date=27 July 2011}}. Zabeirou Moussa. [[Le Sahel]], Niamey. 8 May 2009.</ref>