The Land Transport Coordination Department is a body of the Regional Secretariat for Housing and Infrastructures with the mission of managing land transports in the Azores Autonomous Region. It generally takes on the role of the General Directorate for Roads and the General Directorate for Inland Transports.

Article 53

Land Transport Coordination Department

1- The Land Transport Coordination Department focuses its activity on inland transports.

2 - The Land Transport Coordination Department is headed by a coordinator, equivalent in hierarchical terms to an assistant director-general.

3 - The coordinator manages the human and material resources, exercising the powers delegated in the office by the Regional Secretary or Regional Director of Public Works and Inland Transports.

The Land Transport Coordination Department is responsible for:

a) Allotting and cancelling vehicle registration numbers, licensing vehicles and drivers, managing administrative offences and effecting and updating the individual registration of drivers;

b) Applying and publicising the Highway Code and EC directives;

c) Coordinating the public transport of passengers in the region;

d) Proposing and defining the financial aid to the region's public transports;

e) Licensing and supervising the operations of driving schools or other professionals of the land transport sector in the region;

f) Monitoring the activity of land transport companies in which the region holds a shareholding;

g) Performing the duties in the region conferred by the Highway Code and its regulations, by regulations focusing on transport in motor vehicles and legislation concerning general directorates for roads and inland transport;

h) Collaborating with the Regional Transport Fund;

i) Carrying out studies and planning regarding the establishment of a land transport policy;

j) Collaborating in the establishment of the necessary rules for coordinating and controlling the operation of land transports;

k) Monitoring the activity of the region's land transport companies and fostering their streamlined operation and modernisation, performing necessary studies and safeguarding links with the different intervening bodies;

l) Proposing tariff systems, as well as controlling the application of passenger and freight transport systems in force, after performing the studies required to ensure the effective coordination of the same, in particular studies focusing on traffic, transport costs, tariffs, contingencies, operating conditions and market operating conditions;

m) Reviewing, drawing up and fostering the definition of technical norms and safety standards regarding the operation of each type of transport;

n) Intervening in traffic planning, signalling and regulation, and also carry out the respective monitoring;

o) Proposing and defining driver, instructor and driving school manager selection and training methods;

p) Organising and ensuring that the registration of the regional pool of vehicles is kept updated;

q) Ensuring that the registration of drivers is kept updated;

r) Collaborating with the Azores Regional Statistics Service in the collection and update of statistical data relative to the land transport sector;

s) Processing the administrative offences resulting from proceedings brought by senior officers of SAJNP associated to the Land Transport Coordination Department;

t) Performing all other tasks it is allocated.

The Land Transport Coordination Department comprises the Directorate for Roads and Inland Transport of Ponta Delgada (DSVTTPD), which oversees the islands of Santa Maria and São Miguel, and it operationally coordinates the Directorate for Roads and Inland Transport of Angra do Heroísmo (DSVTTAH), which oversees the islands of Terceira, Graciosa and São Jorge, and it operates the Office on the island of Terceira, and the Directorate for Roads and Inland Transport of Horta (DSVTTH), which oversees the islands of Pico, Faial, Flores and Corvo and operates the Office on the island of Faial.

Responsibilities of Directorate for Roads and

The Directorate for Roads and Inland Transport is responsible for:

a) Issuing learner permits, driver licences and vehicle registration documents;

b) Certifying the technical characteristics of vehicles;

c) Organising the licensing processes of driving schools and self-employed driving instructors and submitting them to higher authority;

d) Inspecting driving schools, driver examination centres and compulsory vehicle inspection centres;

e) Carrying out inspections and instigating proceedings in the event of non-compliance;

f) Confiscating driver licences;

g) Charging fees;

h) Training driving instructors, driving school managers and examiners;

i) Licensing examination centres;

j) Issuing special transport and driving permits;

k) Carrying out driving tests;

l) Issuing ownership documents for trailers;

m) Seizing vehicles;

n) Proposing compulsory vehicle inspection systems as well as ensuring their implementation;

o) Proposing driver selection and training methods and carrying out the respective examinations;

p) Cooperating with all other entities competent in the supervision and compliance with traffic and road safety rules;

q) Fostering the traffic planning, regulation and signalling.

The Directorate for Roads and Inland Transport has administrative offices on the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and Faial.