The Herald, January 10, 1990
WITH many children going back to school next week, Zupco has offered to ferry long-distance passengers to help ease the transport problem.
Previously, Zupco, which operates in the urban areas, was granted permits to operate services within a radius of 150 km of Harare.
The buses catered for short-distance passengers left behind by long-distance buses, which at times preferred those travelling long distances.
During the Christmas and New Year holidays, short-distance passengers were refused seats by some long-distance bus drivers at Mbare Musika, and were rescued by Zupco.
The short-distance services of Zupco proved popular with the public after the bus company helped thousands of passengers join their families during the festive season.
However, the president of the Zimbabwe Transport Organisation, Cde Ben Mucheche, said yesterday that rural bus operators did not want Zupco’s assistance next week, because long-distance buses could cope with the demand.
“Actually, we are going to lay off some of our buses because we have more than enough buses to service our routes,” he said.
He failed to understand why Zupco wanted to compete with rural buses when it was failing to adequately service urban commuters.
Cde Mucheche said all rural buses were on orders to give service to all passengers irrespective of distance. Inspectors would be sent out to monitor rural buses next week.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
- The deregulation of the urban transport sector, that removed the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) monopoly, resulted in a sharp increase of indigenously-owned passenger transporters. However, the travelling public continues to face challenges.
- Their service provision is very poor, especially commuter omnibuses. Fares are hiked indiscriminately.
Currently they are rejecting 50-cent coins and below – money which is legal tender, and are getting away with it. Do they not operate under transportation laws enacted in Zimbabwe?
- The poor state of their vehicles and high accident rate has seen Government on a number of times coming to the rescue of the travelling public, by availing Zupco buses, whose fares are highly subsidised.
- As schools open next week, we hope that the same will be done and Zupco will offer the good service it has provided in the past.
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