At least 22 articulated buses arrived in Mozambique on Saturday to reduce the transport crisis in the metropolitan region of Maputo, the country’s capital, a region facing mobility problems, an official source announced on Sunday.
“The buses have the capacity to carry 150 seated passengers, which means that the amount that would be transported by around 10 15-seater vehicles can be removed in one go,” said Ambrósio Sitoe, permanent secretary of the Mozambican Ministry of Transport and Communications, quoted by the local media.
According to the official, the allocation of the articulated buses, which will start running in January 2024, is also aimed at reducing flooding at bus stops, which occurs mainly during rush hour in Maputo.
The acquisition of the buses is the result of a partnership between the Mozambican government and a neighboring South African company, and they should serve six routes in the capital.
“This solves some challenges and strategic priorities in the transport sector (…) This is the beginning of a process that the ministry is undertaking to solve the challenge of urban mobility in the greater Maputo metropolitan area,” said Ambrósio Sitoe.
The Maputo metropolitan area, with around three million inhabitants, covers the district of Marracuene and the municipalities of Maputo, Matola and Boane, concentrating “more than 70% of the country’s car fleet”, according to data from the Ministry of Transport.
The transport sector in Mozambique is one of the most deficient in terms of public services in the country, especially road transport, where the crisis in resources has triggered the use of open-top vehicles, jokingly known as ‘my love’, given the physical proximity with which passengers travel in the cargo box and the need to sometimes hug each other to avoid falling on the road.