Tolls, fuels and sustainability of public transport: Doing the maths every step of the way

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Tolls, fuels and sustainability of public transport: Doing the maths every step of the way

3:42 CAT | 19 Jul 2022

FILE - Illustrative photo. [Screen grab: Miramar]

Long-haul, interprovincial passenger carriers began charging new fares on Friday last week, but the high cost of fuel and the “cancer of tolls”, as they say, continue to oblige them to keep a calculator at hand to do the maths.

There is a consensus among transporters that the increase in tariffs in force since 15 July fails to cover the huge “hole” opened up by recent fuel increases, but also by the installation and entry into operation of new toll plazas along National Road Number One (EN1) and other highways across the country.

From Maputo to Massinga, transporters have to go through five tolls and make the respective payments without any type of discounts for frequent users. Meanwhile, to reach Vilankulo requires yet another toll, while those aiming to get to far-flung Beira are obliged to make payments at four more tolls, making a total of nine toll plazas where traffic is charged under what is known as the “user-payer’ rule.

From a cost point of view, the five tolls from Maputo to Massinga, cost operators of a 50-seat Class 3 passenger bus a total of 2,380 meticais in tolls alone. The amount corresponds to 380 meticais paid at the Cumbeza toll, and 2,000 meticais paid to pass the subsequent four tolls, namely Chicumbane [Gaza], Chidenguele [Gaza], Nhacundele [Zavala, Inhambane] and Malova [Massinga, in Inhambane]. The four tolls that follow Kumbeza cost 500 meticais each for Class 3 vehicles.

The connection between Maputo city and Vilankulo adds to the 2,380 paid up to Massinga another 500 meticais, paid at the Mapinhane toll in Vilankulo district.

As for getting to Beira, one must also go through the Save [Inhambane], Nhamatanda [Sofala] tolls and, finally, the Dondo tolls [also in Sofala]. The costs are: another 500 meticais at the Save toll, 590 in Nhamatanda and 200 meticais in Dondo. In other words, Maputo city to Dondo costs 4,170 meticais in tolls alone.

#Mozambique: EN1 rehabilitation budgeted at USD 750 million – AIMhttps://t.co/2aP40eqRo9 #Mocambique pic.twitter.com/snv8az6Pnn

— Club of Mozambique (@clubOmozambique) April 6, 2022

Fuel for a Class 3 bus from Maputo for Vilankulo and back costs about 45,000 meticais, transporters say, while fares for the circa 725-kilometre Maputo-Vilankulo trip are about 1,500 meticais per passenger, post last Friday’s tariff update.

Potholes, a real headache

But, beyond complaining that the cost of one ticket is claimed at a particular toll plaza, long-distance hauliers say that the aggravating factor, particularly after Vilankulo, is the quality of the roads. Transporters are pained at having to pay so much at tolls and then have to “smash the buses” along the way because of the numerous potholes on the road.

In the current situation, they have no hesitation in saying that they are facing illicit charges imposed by the government, as “it makes no sense to spend more than 4,000 meticais on tolls alone, and then arrive in the city of Beira and have to put the vehicle in the shop for repairs because of the potholes along the way”.

New tariffs table already corroded

The new fares, according to the Mozambican Federation of Road Transporters (FEMATRO) are even already outdated, as they were approved last year and were initially expected to come into force in January.

The increase followed the logic of adding another 1.50 meticais per kilometre travelled, but the transporters’ proposal, at that time [2021], was that the increase would be in the order of 1.75 meticais more per kilometre.

So, in order to make the smallest possible adjustment taking into account the sharp deterioration in the capacity of carriers due to the unstoppable increase in fuel prices, a consensus was reached to replace the “remainder” of the 2021 proposal – the 0.25 meticais more per kilometre which had been “forgiven”.

ALSO READ: Mozambique: Search continues for funds to rehabilitate EN1 – Notícias

Mozambique: Road maintenance costs 800 million dollars a year – AIM report

Source: MediaFax