Chronicle Editor
THE Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) has been given the mandate to provide public transport in urban areas. What this entails is that Zupco fares should be affordable to the majority of the commuting public.
The decision by Zupco to hike fares by 100 percent this week, is in our view, going against the grain.
When Government mandated Zupco to be the sole urban public transporter, it wanted to not only bring sanity to public transport sector but also to ensure that fares remain affordable to the majority of the commuting public.
Zupco acting chief executive officer Mr Everisto Madangwa said the new fares were a cost containment measure by the company. This argument, unfortunately, cannot be supported given that private kombis are charging $50 while Zupco kombis are now charging $80 and its buses are charging $60, amounts which the commuting public is saying are too high.
Many commuters have resorted to boarding private kombis which are not only exposing them to the Covid-19 pandemic but are also not reliable as they are operating illegally.
Many of these kombis are picking and dropping commuters at undesignated points and at times dump the commuters when they are confronted by traffic police.
It is a cat and mouse game with the police daily hence these private kombis are not a reliable means of transport.
The commuting public is saying following the increase in fares by Zupco, commuters have no option but to board the private kombis.
When Government mandated Zupco to be the sole urban public transporter, it said it wanted to guarantee commuters reliable and affordable transport.
The country this week reverted to level 4 lockdown in response to a spike in Covid-19 cases and it is the same week that Zupco raised fares when hours of business have been drastically reduced. It defeats logic to expect workers, both in the formal and informal sector whose operating hours have been reduced, to afford the fares increased by 100 percent.
Zupco should not be allowed to renege on its mandate to provide a reliable and affordable transport service in urban areas. We want at this juncture to implore Government to intervene and assist the commuting public.
Government, we want to believe, has been subsidising Zupco so what cost containment is management talking about? The fact that private kombis are charging almost half of what Zupco is charging means it is affordable for Zupco to charge even lower given that it is getting funding from Government.
We appeal to Zupco to immediately revert to the old fares and if there are any challenges, it should engage Government.
Online Reporter