Control centre for public transport set in motion

Ivan Zhakata Herald Correspondent

BUS operators are set to partner with the police, Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) and the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) to launch a control centre in Harare where all buses will be managed.

This comes after Government, last month, issued Statutory Instrument 118 of 1023 which compels bus operators and public service vehicles to be fitted with speed limiting and monitoring devices.

According to the Instrument, all public service vehicles shall be fitted with a speed-limiting device so that such vehicles will not exceed 100km/hr.

Government has also emphasised the need for all public service vehicles including buses starting from August 1, to be fitted with speed limiting and monitoring devices to ensure speeding by drivers is avoided, thereby saving lives, with the police capacitated to ensure compliance, following the gazetting of the new regulation.

Bus operators under the Zimbabwe Passenger Transporters Organisation (ZPTO) have since started to engage law enforcement agents and they are also mobilising the resources for the control centre.

ZPTO chairperson Dr Sam Nanhanga said the control centre will monitor all buses and penalize those who break road rules and regulations.

“The control centre will have a system called Fleet Manager which a layman knows as a vehicle tracker,” he said. “It monitors the vehicle, speed, fuel consumption and the drivers’ behaviour. The system was part of the Statutory Instrument 129 of 2015 and it is also on the Statutory Instrument 118 of 2023 so it will be used side by side with the Statutory Instruments.

“The system is also used by individuals and we could not penalize a bus operator or driver for over-speeding because it will be used by the operator to manage his to her fleet. The control centre will be manned by ZPTO, the police, VID and TSCZ to make sure that all the road regulations and safety precautions are adhered to.”

TSCZ managing director Mr Munesu Munodawafa said the establishment of a control centre was of paramount importance and it was under consideration.

“It is something have talked about and it is a good idea which must be of national outlook,” Mr Munodawafa said.

“There is a number of issues that we need to consider like we will need to put response centres countrywide in cases of accidents and other emergencies. We are exploring the idea with various key players including the Zimbabwe Passenger Transporters Organisation.