The Sunday News
Thobekile Khumalo, Sunday News Reporter
THE first batch of the 76 Zupco buses that were commissioned by President Mnangagwa to service Bulawayo and other southern parts of the country will start plying their routes this week after the completion of pre-delivery inspection.
Bulawayo residents have been waiting for the new buses which were commissioned two weeks ago to ease transport shortages especially for long distance routes. The buses are part of President Mnangagwa’s commitment to ease the high cost of transport that has been affecting Bulawayo residents and the country at large.
In an interview on Thursday last week, Zupco Southern Division manager Mr Tineyo Rwasoka said the buses will be on the road this week.
“At the moment the new Zupco buses have not been allocated to their different routes because they are undergoing pre-delivery inspection that is being done by FAW. The process is delaying us because as of Thursday only 10 buses had been checked and the rest have to be inspected, but by next week Monday we will be done with the inspection as well as allocation of routes of these buses so that they start servicing people as soon as possible,” he said last week.
He said Zupco was also working on improving its services to the commuters.
“We have ordered destination cards that will be put in buses that are going to service people for easy identification and to avoid commuters from getting lost. We are also working with the Bulawayo City Council so that it erects destinations boards within the CBD at every Zupco pick-up point,” said Mr Rwasoka.
Bulawayo has 96 Zupco buses and 93 commuter omnibus which are on demand both in town and high-density suburbs due to their affordability. Rural communities in Matabeleland region will also get additional buses.
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