The lack of means of public transport, the high affluence and even the prices charged push users to borrow any mobile vehicle for their travels. From the cart to the “khattaf” car, passing by the motorbike and the now unavoidable “triporteur”…, each destination has its clandestine means of transport. In history, it is the informal that benefits through this practice.
The latter, which differs from one city to another and from one district to another, is very lucrative. Its activity is flourishing more and more, especially in the face of the transport crisis which is raging in several cities and metropolises of the Kingdom. That said, the summer period is marked by intense movements of citizens, especially to the beaches which in these heat waves see the number of summer visitors double to the happiness of clandestine transport.
For many carriers and practically in all regions of the country, some have made it a profession in their own right. It is certainly illegal, but several societal factors make it a laxity that is tolerated. It goes without saying that citizens who devote themselves to this type of transport, running all the risks, only engage their own responsibility in the event of an accident.
A number of activists and civil society activists have denounced the spread of clandestine transports to beaches in recent days and are calling on the authorities to step up control of these illegal vehicles that transport families to beaches in these extremely hot weather. We see more and more citizens using scooters to get around to and from the beaches, which opens the way to the generalization of clandestine transport in seaside resorts.
In Casablanca in particular, many tricycles transport summer visitors to the beaches of and threaten traffic safety because of non-compliance with the highway code and tourist transport regulations. Ouadie Madih, President of the Federation National Associations of Consumer (FNAC), declared to this effect, to MoroccoLatestNews that “ most Moroccans who use clandestine transport do not really have a choice and this calls into question public policies related to this sector“.
Madih added, that ” the consumer is a victim of the chaos of the transport sector in Morocco, forced in this respect to travel on a scooter, especially in the morning when the citizen must go to his place of work or other in a timely manner“. And to add: The beaches also experience a remarkable proliferation of clandestine means of transport in the summer due to the pressure on taxis and public buses. This situation requires the allocation of an exceptional public transport fleet to holidaymakers during the months of July and August“. In this context, the chairman of FNAC underlined that “ the intelligent applications used in most countries of the world remain a subject of contention between public authorities and taxi professionals. They are effective solutions that take into account the consumer’s interest “.