Five hundred more vehicles will be added to the country’s first mini-bus incentive programme when the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA) launches the second phase of Moja Cruise during Transport Month in October. The roll-out of the second phase, which will bring the total number of vehicles to 1000, was approved during a Full Council meeting recently. In 2018, the ETA launched the pilot Moja Cruise programme. The project was to be rolled out over a three-year period with up to 6 000 vehicles. 

The branded Moja Cruise taxis have been installed with state-of-the-art tracking systems which was paid for by the Municipality. The trackers monitor bad driving including adhering to the speed limit and the use of driving controls such as brakes and change of gears. 

The aim of the programme, which is a partnership between the Municipality and eThekwini Management Taxi Council (EMTC), is to ensure a safe, secure and efficient customer oriented service. The programme motivates drivers to comply in order to qualify for financial incentives. Head of 

ETA Thami Manyathi said due to fiscus constraints and the impact of COVID-19 lockdown regulations, the rollout strategy was revised. “Moja Cruise taxis adhere to certain criteria to offer a clean, safe, efficient, customer-oriented service to the public. The vehicles are monitored to ensure that these criteria are met in order to qualify for the financial incentive,” he said. 

At the end of the pilot phase, the Moja Cruise project was strongly supported by operators and drivers, with confirmed desired benefits for the City. On that basis, there was good reason and support from all parties for the programme to move to full implementation.