- A further 80 gas powered buses will enter service in Maputo by February 2020.
- The project is a partnership between the Maputo Metropolitan Transport Agency and Autogas.
- The initiative seeks to promote the use of Mozambican natural gas in public transport and thus reduce expenditure on importing liquid fuels.
The chairperson of the Metropolitan Transport Agency, Antonio Matos, and the Executive Director of Autogas, Joao Neves signed a memorandum of understanding in Maputo this week paving the way for the import of 80 buses.
Matos said the import of 80 buses, each with 40 seats, will cost about 3.5 million US dollars. Private companies will operate the buses, and will use bank loans that are to be repaid in 18 months.
The buses will cover routes within Maputo city and province, including Matola city and the districts of Boane, Namaacha, Marracuene and Manhica. Matos said they will carry about 32,000 passengers a day, which works out at well over ten million passengers a year. The buses will provided about 320 jobs for drivers and ticket collectors.
Joao Neves said more such investments are necessary in order to make it economically viable to set up a larger chain of posts selling compressed natural gas throughout the country.
He added that in the next five years the government will import a further 1,000 gas powered buses, manufactured in China.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
Source: Metropolitan Transport Agency – Maputo
