(TAP) – Improving the management of non-regular passenger transport in Tunisia (TNRP) at the national and local levels is an emergency, which cannot wait for the effective implementation of decentralisation.

This mode of transport is becoming essential in the face of regular public transport with a chronic deficit, this is what emerges from a study conducted by the Ministry of Transport, in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD).

This study, the results of which were presented on Tuesday at a press conference in Tunis, reiterated that 'non-regular passenger transport has become, since the 2000s, an increasingly popular alternative for the population to compensate for failures in the public transport network.'

In fact, in 2018, we had about 52,000 non-regular transport authorisations (individual, collective, tourist and shared taxis), which represents an average annual growth rate varying between 3% and 9%, depending on the type of vehicle.

According to Fabien Garcia, representative of the design office that produced this document, this TNRP activity has 46 thousand direct jobs, only in Greater Tunis, 60% of which are individual taxis. The average monthly income of these professionals varies between 2,500 and 3,000 dinars.

The average age of the fleet of these vehicles is between 6 and 10 years, hence the importance of considering its renewal.

According to the study, this mode of transport is increasingly used by users, especially since it is faster and more available, in comparison with public transport, even though it is more expensive.

However, dangerous driving remains a major concern for 1/3 of passengers, while a significant percentage of them criticize the discomfort and irregularity of departures.

Garcia also said that 35% of users of this transport mode are employees and are regular passengers, while 50% are occasional users.

As for the recommendations put forward by this study, in order to better organise this sector of activity, the official mentioned five projects related to the legal and organisational framework (requiring operators to comply with specifications); monitoring and regulation (monitoring the activity: number of authorisations granted, professionalism, safety, control, etc.); and improving comfort in vehicles.

It is also a question of studying pricing and improving parking conditions. In this context, he indicated that the stations cannot contain all the vehicles and are not equipped with protective perimeters.

The study, launched in 2018 in 8 governorates (Tunis, Ariana, Manouba, Ben Arous, Medenine, Sousse, Monastir and Jendouba), was funded by the AFD as part of French cooperation through the Fonds d'Expertise Technique et d'Echanges (FEXTE). It is part of the strategy for the development of sustainable urban mobility in Tunisia.