"Starting in December of this year, ENBI will begin to gradually eliminate fare payments on board public buses, and it is expected that by the end of the first quarter of 2025, passengers will be regularly using the GiraMais pass for their journeys," the company said in a statement sent to VerAngola.
The company explains that, in order to ensure a smooth and advantageous change for bus users, it will launch a promotional campaign for signing up for the pass this Wednesday, reducing the issuance fee from the current 5990 kwanzas to 5000 kwanzas.
In addition to this promotion, the company will also give 1500 kwanzas in travel upon first membership.
According to the company, the campaign will run until 30 November for most passengers, but does not include holders of the GiraMais social pass, namely students aged between six and 15 and former combatants and veterans of the country.
It should be noted that the national integrated ticketing service is currently implemented in six provinces: Luanda, Benguela, Huíla, Huambo, Malanje and Cabinda.
In this sense, according to the ENBI statement, in the first phase, in Luanda, the implementation of this measure will begin on the means of transport between Avenida Deolinda Rodrigues (Km 30-1.º de Maio), Avenida Fidel de Castro (start of Via Expressa-Vila de Cacuaco) and Estrada de Cacuaco (Vila de Cacuaco-São Paulo and Vila de Cacuaco-Baleizão).
The change in Huíla will be felt on the route connecting the Statue of Liberty to the Quilengues Centrality and between Eiwa and the Mutundo Market, while in Huambo the change will be felt on the route between Huambo and Caála.
Two routes in Cabinda (Chiloango-Pioneiro Zeca and Chilongo-Subastando) and two in Malanje (Mercado da Catepa-Mercado da Chauande and Mercado da Catepa-Mercado de Cangandala) will also be affected by this change.
In the province of Benguela, it will be on the Baía Farta-Benguela-Catumbela-Lobito route that this change will initially be felt.
This decision to eliminate ticket payments on buses is part of "the ongoing modernisation and digital transformation in urban passenger transport and aims to simplify the payment process, reduce the risks associated with handling cash in public places, and improve the operational efficiency of operating companies". Therefore, using only GiraMais passes it will be possible to achieve all these objectives, resulting in more efficient and faster trips.
