The motor vehicle fleet in the Dominican Republic grows like foam compared to the number of people in the Dominican population.
The report on the Situation of Road Safety in the country issued by the National Institute of Traffic and Land Transportation (Intrant) requires an increase of 5.5 percent in the last five years in the motorization rate, that is, of those vehicles such as motorcycles and mopeds.
This increase is translated in a specific way as an approximation of one motorcycle for every four inhabitants, when in the country there are currently registered about 2 million 695 thousand 457 motorcycles.
Likewise, the study details that of the entire vehicle fleet, the highest percentage is carried by motorcycles with 52.5 percent, followed by automobiles with 26.2 percent and cargo vehicles with 12.1 percent.
42.7% are more than 20 years old
When analyzing the composition of the vehicle fleet according to year of manufacture, it was found that approximately 42.7 percent are more than 20 years old.
Regarding motorcycles, it is explained that 1 million 87 thousand 112 motorcycles correspond to the year two thousand, when compared with those of the year 2021, only four thousand 834 correspond to that year of manufacture.
Among the busiest motorcycle years are 2006, 2015, 2007, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2014,2018 and 2008 with 147,498, 135,352, 121,833,121,009,113,456,120,150, 108,142,99,477, and 94,675 respectively. In addition, motorcycles are the means of transport most involved in deaths on the roads, where from 2016 to 2020 there were 7,517 deaths on board this vehicle.
73.1 percent of the deceased are motorcycle users.
While cars, 542 thousand 910 are from the year two thousand and 586 from the year 2021.
Urbanista talks about the negative impact of this and its solution
The urban planning expert, Erick Dorrejo, stated that the fact that the vehicle fleet grows in greater proportion than the population produces more negative than positive effects.
Dorrejo explained that there are many reasons that make an individual acquire their own vehicle for private use or join the different taxi platforms aboard a new car, as a way to solve the chaotic situation that they live daily by the deficiency in transport for collective use.
He also added that the streets are not enough for the number of vehicles that circulate, explaining that they were designed in the city with just 500 thousand inhabitants for the decade of the 60s.
However, by 2020, the scenario changed due to having a population that moves at the same time two or three million inhabitants that were not contemplated at the time.
“What we need to make up for this negative effect is to invest in public transport and to have more means of public transport that allow the population to use them as an alternative,” he stressed.
The specialist stated that by adopting a 55-passenger bus, at least 25 to 35 vehicles could be removed from circulation, depending on the movement of one person per vehicle on average.
Advantages
Miguel Ramírez, who works as a motoconcho at the intersection of La Defilló with Kennedy, told elCaribe the reasons that motivated him to use an engine as a means of transportation and sustenance.
Ramírez acknowledged that it is an unsafe vehicle since his whole body walks in the open air in each service he offers, but that in his case it is easier to handle.
“It is that it is an economical means of transport, I concho for more than eight hours and what I spend on gasoline is not much compared to a large car. In addition, the movement is faster ”, emphasized Ramírez.
He revealed that an uncle taught him the skills that today he knows how to do on board a motor and that his clients usually seek it, since they feel safe to travel with him to their destination regardless of the distance and “without any fear.”
Almost five million vehicles are registered
According to data provided by the General Directorate of Internal Taxes (DGII) in the country there are almost five million registered vehicles, there are four million 842 thousand 367 cars that this institution has under its registration and ranging from motorcycles, cars, jeeps, cargo , buses, heavy machines, dump trucks, as well as private, public urban and interurban vehicles, trucks, vans, trailers, among others.
