Maputo bus fares rise

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Maputo bus fares rise

7:45 CAT | 01 Mar 2018

Maputo Municipal Council on Tuesday announced the long-awaited increase in fares for public transport (both for buses, and for the privately-owned minibuses commonly known as “chapas”).

As from next Monday, the fare for journeys of up to ten kilometres rises by 43 per cent for distances of up to ten kilometres, from seven to ten meticais (from 11.5 to 16.4 US cents, at current exchange rates).

For distances of between 10 and 20 kilometres the rise is 33 per cent, from nine to 12 meticais.

The Municipal Council’s statement warned that the new fares only come into effect on Monday, and that it will not tolerate “opportunist” behaviour by operators who try to charge them before that date.

The Council had promised transport operators repeatedly last year that the fares would be increased. But it was clearly reluctant to make such an announcement, fully aware that twice in the recent past fare rises have sparked off rioting in Maputo.

The chairperson of the Maputo Association of Road Transporters (ATROMAP), Baptista Mucavele, told reporters that authorisation for a fare increase was welcome – but that the new fares will still not cover the costs of passenger transport. He claimed that studies show the ideal fare should be 25 meticais.

The transport operators have repeatedly claimed they cannot make any profit unless fares are increased – yet most of them keep their vehicles on the roads.

The government used to subsidise the diesel used by the operators – but last year announced that this type of subsidy is being phased out to be replaced by providing the businesses with new buses at subsidised prices. About a month ago the government delivered 38 buses to the Mozambican Association of Road Transporters which in turn allocated them to operators running routes in Maputo and the neighbouring city of Matola.