The number of registered motor vehicles in Zimbabwe continues to rise, with the country having nearly 1.5 million registered motor vehicles as of 31 December 2022.
This is contained in a transport statistics report released on 17 April 2023 by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat).
The report covers the 2018-2022 period. Presenting the report, Zimstat director-general, Taguma Mahonde said:
As of 31st December 2022, there were 1,467,955 registered motor vehicles in Zimbabwe, resulting in a percentage increase of 1.2 percent when compared to 1,449,973 vehicles registered as of 30th September 2022.
A year-on-year comparison shows the stock of registered vehicles in the country, increasing by 6.9 percent from 1,373,431 as at 31st December 2021 to 1,467,955 as at 31st December 2022.
Light motor vehicles accounted for 80.6 percent of registered motor vehicles in the country as of 31 December 2022.
Zimstat compiled the 2018-2022 Transport Statistics report using administrative data obtained from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Central Vehicle Registry (CVR), Zimbabwe Republic Police Headquarters (ZRP), Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) and the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).
Over the past few years, traffic congestion has almost become the norm mainly in urban areas and the traffic jams have been attributed to an increase in the number of cars on the country’s roads.
However, some observers say the country’s regional trunk and primary roads were built in the 1960s and 1970s and most of them have exceeded their 20-year design life.
As such, the infrastructure hasn’t been keeping pace with the exponential growth in traffic volume and this has resulted in congestion.
In 2021, Cabinet approved the recommendations that were made by the inter-ministerial committee set up a week ago to tackle road congestion in urban areas, particularly in Harare Metropolitan Province.
The measures included working on the seriously congested Mbudzi Roundabout in south Harare and the importation of 667 buses to boost the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) fleet, and providing dedicated bus lanes and renovating terminuses.
It will also entail said eliminating the pirate kombis and mushikashika, repairing urgently critical non-functioning traffic lights, improving traffic control at congested junctions, repairing road surfaces at junctions and putting in kerbs to prevent U-turns.
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