Paul Nyathi|At the turn of the century when the economy began crumbling and urban transportation was inevitably becoming expensive due to high fuel and maintenance costs, then President Robert Mugabe attempted introducing what was to be cheaper transport through the struggling Zimbabwe United Passenger Company ZUPCO.
The move saw the introduction of the cheaper mini buses, nicknamed Gushungo Buses by citizens, operated at a huge loss by ZUPCO against prevailing economic factors. The result was an imminent collapse of not only the mini buses but a begin of the fall of the once big government operated public transport company.
Face by the sad predicament of trying to win the confidence of the battling urban citizens, government has announced that it will from Monday introduce the same buses through ZUPCO.
According to government, the buses will charge $1 per trip between residential suburbs and the Central Business District in Harare a trip which private commuter omnibus operators are charging $3 inline with the recent high fuel price increase introduced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Those from Chitungwiza and Norton will be charged $1.50 and $2 per trip respectively, against the current charges of $4 and $5.
ZUPCO has been urgently tasked to manage a fleet of buses that will cover all suburbs in Harare, and will also extend to other towns and cities.
Briefing journalists in Harare on Saturday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the new system will enable passengers to use various forms of payment including cash and plastic money.
“Over the past few weeks, transport fares had risen beyond the affordability of the commuting public,” she said.
“They were paying as much as $5 for suburbs within Harare. In line with the Transitional Stabilisation Programme’s thrust to modernise the entire national transport system in the country, starting from Monday 21 January 2019 at 5 am, Government, through the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO), is launching an urban mass transport system to complement the existing commuting system.”
Minister Mutsvangwa said the move was part of Government’s long term plan to modernise the entire mass public transport system.
“The modernisation of the mass public transport system will ensure low-cost, efficient and professional service to the commuting public as well as reduce the country’s fuel costs and decongest the Central Business Districts as buses carry more people compared to smaller forms of transportation.
“Government is working on further plans to modernise our whole national transport system at rates affordable to the ordinary persons,” she said.
“Government assures the public that more buses will be procured and other provinces will be included in the mass bus transport project.”
Measures had already been put in place to provide adequate security to protect passengers and the buses in view of recent disturbances, she said.
Speaking at the same press conference, Transport and Infrastructure Development deputy Minister Fortune Chasi said authorities had made interventions to ensure that there were enough buses to meet demand.
“There are sufficient buses to ensure that the public can travel to work and to schools on Monday,” he said.
Minister Mutsvangwa also revealed that the fuel supply was normalising with the commodity now available at most service stations after distribution was affected by last week’s riots.
“With regards to the fuel issue, Government would like to inform the public that the situation is slowly normalising,” she said.
“Government has put in place a facility that will ensure that adequate fuel is available to the motoring public.
“The only minor challenge is logistical. Fuel trucks were disrupted by the violent disturbances of last week, hence, could not ferry fuel to service stations. “To expedite fuel delivery, Government has allowed fuel trucks to move even during the night making deliveries.”
She implored Zimbabweans to freely conduct their day-to-day activities without hindrance as the security situation has normalised.
“We are pleased to note that the security situation has normalised and all peace loving Zimbabweans are freely conducting their day-to-day activities without hindrance.
“To our diplomatic community, tourists, investors and all our other guests in the country, Government would like to assure you that the peace that Zimbabwe is known for is prevailing throughout the country.”
Source: State Media