The Regional Government of Madeira will propose an amendment to Law No. 45/2018, of 10 August, which establishes the legal framework for the activity of individual and remunerated passenger transport in uncharacterised vehicles (TVDE).
According to a statement from the Regional Secretariat for Equipment and Infrastructures, approved by the last Government Council, with this diploma the Madeiran executive intends to follow up on its intention to adopt administrative management measures that, proportionally, reconcile the freedom of economic initiative with the responsibility of the public authorities in the ordering and regulation of mobility, safeguarding the public interest and the sustainability of the sector.
Data indicates that, in recent years, the Autonomous Region of Madeira has experienced significant growth in the number of operators and vehicles allocated to the individual and remunerated transport of passengers in uncharacterised vehicles from an electronic platform.
Therefore, the regional executive considers that, in small markets such as the Region, “a disproportionate offer leads to economic unviability for many providers of this service, generating instability and high turnover in the sector, the need to increase the working hours of drivers, with direct effects on road safety, and it is necessary to carry out a study of the economic impact and sustainability of mobility, to implement corrective measures in the island territories.”
In this sense, and since the executive understands that freedom of access to economic activity must coexist with the responsibility of the public authorities in the ordering and management of transport, the Regional Government defends the adoption of more effective regulatory measures, to ensure that the TVDE service is provided in a safe, balanced and sustainable way, for the benefit of passengers, drivers and the entire regional economy.
“The proposed amendment to the national law will allow the Autonomous Regions of Madeira and the Azores to exceptionally restrict or condition access to the TVDE market, based on technical and quantitative criteria, through the granting of licenses with the imposition of public service obligations, technical conditions or traffic restrictions and the establishment of a maximum quota of TVDE vehicles, global and by operator.”
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
