The licensing process for the exercise of public transport activity for passengers and goods is a fundamental moment in which the supervisory authority verifies whether applicants meet the eligibility requirements.
Since legislation allows these applications to be submitted in virtually the entire country, and the supervisory authority does not have a centralized system for registration, monitoring, and validation of this process at the national level (National Salvation Plan: I – Supervision), it should come as no surprise that these licensing processes are often compromised by a lack of technical capacity for their management and validation. This happens because the need to provide transport often outweighs considerations of risk for all road users in the country, and, in many cases, compliance with existing legislation.
In this article, we will present only two measures that, in our view, help to significantly reduce one of the many causes of accidents in Mozambique: the lack of quality and technical conditions of vehicles transporting goods and passengers.
Vehicle eligibility for passenger transport
A technical framework should be created to define the conditions for vehicle eligibility during the licensing process. This framework should relate the manufacturing date of vehicles and engine number, in addition to other elements already required by law, to the types of activity licenses requested by applicants. It should link the age of vehicles to the intended licenses, ensuring, for example, that vehicles of a certain age are not eligible for long-distance transport, except in cases where they have undergone technical upgrades such as engine replacement and other relevant equipment updates, provided these are certified by a competent and officially recognized entity.
The reduction of customs tariffs in Mozambique for the import of used vehicles was an excellent government decision to enable citizens to purchase affordable vehicles.
However, many of these vehicles used for passenger transport in urban areas or between provinces do not meet the minimum safety requirements for passengers or other road users, due to their age, excessive mileage, lack of seatbelts, overloading, and blatant disregard for speed limits. They represent a real danger on the roads.
The proposed framework must be strict and detailed, ensuring that the licensing process is not subject to any form of creative interpretation by the licensing authority. It should also provide alternatives that guarantee a minimum level of safety in operations, which is not currently the case.
Collecting information in a centralized system, continuously monitored, supervised, and validated, would allow this framework to be updated in a short period of time. As an example, the reduction in processing time for imports through the “Single Window” platform demonstrates the benefits of such systems, including increased national tax revenue.
As with passenger transport, a corresponding framework should also be created for goods transport, given the specific characteristics of this activity.
Mandatory use of GPS systems
Every public transport vehicle for goods and passengers must already have an operational GPS system installed, with minimum functionality requirements, as part of the licensing process. No licensing application should be approved without this system being operational.
For passenger transport vehicles, this system is extremely useful, as it allows remote monitoring of route compliance, speed limits, stopping points, and operating schedules. With this information, it becomes possible to carry out more effective, direct, and real-time supervision of drivers and companies.
This monitoring enables preventive, corrective, and punitive measures to be applied almost in real time. With on-the-ground inspection teams, it would be possible, for example, at the end of a “chapa” (minibus taxi) route, to produce an objective assessment of the journey and act in accordance with existing laws and regulations.
For long-distance travel, the same verification applies, with inspection teams along the route being able to anticipate driver behavior throughout the journey, instead of relying solely on speed enforcement at known fixed checkpoints, which drivers are already aware of.
For goods transport vehicles, the same principle should be applied universally.
It is worth noting that current legislation already requires that public transport vehicles covering more than 500 kilometers must record driving time, either manually, via a tachograph, or through a GPS system.
This measure would completely transform the role of inspection teams, both the Traffic Police and Municipal Police, at a national level. It would also provide the supervisory authority with deep, real-time insight into the daily operations of public transport for passengers and goods.
With this information, it becomes possible to create a far more effective action framework, focused on real problems rather than perceptions.
