Additional Zupco buses for urban commuters

Kudakwashe Ruzive

THE Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (zupco) has redirected its entire inter-city buses fleet to service urban commuter routes to help tackle transport shortages in urban areas.

This follows last week’s introduction of a blanket ban on inter-city movement by Government, when the country moved into a Level Four national lockdown.

zupco will also take delivery of 50 new buses later this month to add to its 800-strong fleet, as authorities heighten efforts to address transport challenges and modernise the country’s public transport system. An additional 50 buses are expected later this year.

The company’s acting chief executive, Mr Evaristo Madangwa, told The Sunday Mail that the redeployment of the inter-city fleet was with immediate effect.

“We are expecting 50 new buses this month up to the end of July,” said Mr Madangwa.

“This new batch is coming from China.

“Also following the ban on inter-city travel, we have, with immediate effect, added all inter-city buses to our urban commuter fleet in order to augment transport availability.

“Since inter-city travel has been stopped following the introduction of a Level Four lockdown, we decided that buses that usually ply long distance routes be used to complement our services for urban commuters.”

Cabinet recently “resolved to support the urgent procurement or hire of an additional 667 buses to enable zupco to provide a more efficient service to all high-density suburbs”.

zupco requires 2 000 buses to run an efficient mass transport system. Currently, the transport utility owns 262 buses, while the rest are operated through its franchise system. The last batch of zupco buses imported into the country was commissioned by President Mnangagwa on March 12. zupco engineers are also refurbishing decommissioned buses to add to its rural routes, with 20 such buses having been brought back on the road this year.

The company plans to revive traditional bus routes, using designated bus stops while also improving its electronic payment system.