The constant breakdowns of the machines mounted on passenger transport buses is the reason for abandoning the use of the card "famba“, in the Maputo Metropolitan Region, Mozambique.
According to what was revealed by the transport operators, civil society in the Mozambican capital has massively adhered to the cards, but currently there are no more than ten users per day on each bus with the system active.
"The number has significantly reduced due to constant breakdowns of the machines that remain turned off for a long time, which limits the user to spend the recharged amount“, said Arnaldo Djohane, driver.
Ivete Simbine, collector, says that the problems of breakdowns were always constant, although they were not very notable, since there were agents at the stops to get around this situation, and where today the technicians do not appear when the problems are reported.
It should also be noted that the existence of two machines on the bus, one for payment and the other for validating the trip, is another problem that concerns users. This makes it easy for people to forget to validate it at the end of the trip, which causes the entire balance on the card to be lost, because when this is not done, at every turn the bus makes, the system withdraws the amount in a automatic, considering that the passenger continues to travel.
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Therefore, several people suggest the creation of a means through which they can connect and request validation of the trip virtually.
Castigo Nhamane, President of the Mozambican Federation of Road Transport Associations (FEMATRO) said that membership is not what was expected, as the system is not very well consolidated, causing constant loss of network and breakdowns. He also added that there is a need to fix this impasse since it is a good system that should be used by everyone.
It should be noted that this technological innovation “Famba” is a payment method promoted by AMT (Agencia Metropolitana De Transporte De Maputo) and is used to pay for transport in the Metropolitan Area of Maputo, which includes the city of Maputo, Boane, Matola, Marracuene , Namaancha, Manhiça, Katembe and Ponta D'ouro.
