ZUPCO Reintroduction A Relief for Commuters; But Is It Sustainable?

Staff Reporter

In a move to increase convenience at the same time reducing transport costs for commuters a few weeks ago, government opened the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) franchise to commuter omnibus operators.

The franchise ZUPCO kombis and buses come at the right time when the transport service is being revived by Government as part of measures to build a safe and reliable transport system in the country.

This move can be seen to be in line with regional and international standards as well as a good governance effort to ensure safe and affordable public transport system. The currently limited ZUPCO buses have been very difficult for women to access due to pressure, and have been a point of abuse because of the nurture of commuters having to stand on the bus giving some twisted and abusive men a chance to rub their organs against unsuspecting women’s buttocks.

Countries such as South Africa have good, reliable and affordable transport fares which are in line with earnings by citizens. Globally train and metro systems are affordable, safe and available for citizens to easily access. In a country like Zimbabwe where citizens are struggling to put food on the table, transport interventions such as the ZUPCO are more than welcome.

Concerns are often raised however of the sustainability of the system in ensuring a continued provision in a manner that keeps ZUPCO functioning especially given the past history of bad governance that set the company into near death.

Due to fuel price hikes, private commuter omnibus(combi) operators have taken it upon themselves to increase fares against the possible reach of many.

While the advantage with the combis is that they take less time to fill up as compared to buses during off-peak hours, the residents have welcomed the development and the coming in of ZUPCO franchise (buses and combos) which they hope will ensure a level of organisation and order in the public transport access areas. The jostling of citizens especially women and the elderly is expected to be the thing of the past as this competition will force the combi operators to professionalise and stop abusing citizens.

The city has also suffered from resistance by combi operators to observe designated pickup points. The congestion that is caused by this poor public transport pick up points could also be mitigated by this. The introduction of the good and safe public system such as ZUPCO by the government could be what this situation needs to maintain order in the cities.

This development however has not gone without ruffling furthers on some who have benefited from this poor system. Some combi operators who are used to profiteering are sulking at the latest development because ZUPCO has reduced the fares and commuters prefer it over them.

One combi driver, Godwin Masaru said that, “The competition is now stiff and putting food on the table for the family is becoming hard with this kind of economy. At the end of the day we are left with no people to board our combis so we end up reducing the fares to accommodate a few because they prefer to wait for the ZUPCO combis than boarding our kombis.”

In suburbs such as Highlands, some combis have slashed fares to $3, because no one bothers to board private combis when there are cheaper alternatives. This the private combi operators a big run for their money.
One of the pioneering operators, Mr Hardlife Chipika of Pamushana Africa Transport, said the deal was a shot in the arm for combi operators who were struggling to cope with high operational costs.

“The coming in of Government will result in us reducing our operational expenses as fuel will be provided. The model to me will reduce wear and tear given that the combis will be timetabled and no running ‘diff’ (empty trips) as was the case and other operational expenses like paying touts as well as running battles with municipal police,” said Mr Chipika.
While the Government has started expanding the ZUPCO fleet, and has plans for many more buses, this will take time and cost more so extending the existing fleet by franchising kombis makes sense. These minibuses are there and can take some of the load right now without additional investment by the Government and ZUPCO, allowing an easier investment process.
The second advantage is that franchising combis allow the huge private investment already made in kombis to be properly managed.

ZUPCO Acting Chief Executive Officer Mr Evaristo Madangwa said: “In January when we introduced buses people said it is not sustainable but here we are. We have a working model and we will continue to improve it to ensure people have transport all the time. People were struggling to move from one point to the other and we decided to cast our net wider, this time including combis in our system. We will be slowly growing our capacity as time moves.”

But, if ZUPCO can bring in ever larger numbers into its franchised fleet, it can for sure improve driving tendencies amongst the combi drivers which had gone to the extremes in being poor.

Those who have travelled by ZUPCO franchised kombis have noted that for a start the drivers appear to have been ordered to follow the Highway Code, a significant start.

Above all passengers are delighted with the expansion of ZUPCO services, and in fact queues for these buses and kombis are restoring a decent public transport system at moderate fares, and has been an extremely popular move, and the latest acceleration of this shows that flexibility and innovation can pay large dividends.
Mr Arnold Choto, one of the commuters said that, “The move by the government to introduce ZUPCO kombis was a noble move because forking out something like $12 per day just for transport was difficult especially looking at the economy. I applaud Government for that.”

To note is that the ZUPCO fleet of large buses and combis is still very small, and even with the addition of a fair number of franchised buses and combis, the total fleet is still unable to move more than 10 percent of those wanting the services, an opportunity for this government to keep innovating and engaging for an affordable, fair and safe transport system in Zimbabwe.

Nyari Mashayamombe

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