By Primrose Zimano
Residents of Warren Park D are pleading for more Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) buses which are much cheaper as compared to kombis plying the same route.
The ZUPCO buses charge only $1 bond note while kombis have hiked the fares to $5 bond notes during peak hours.
In an interview with this publication, one of the residents who identified himself as Nation said there is need for more ZUPCO buses in addition to the single bus plying the City-Warren Park D route.
‘We need more ZUPCO buses because a single bus is not enough to accommodate us all,” Nation said.
Mr Lance Moyo, another resident, urged ZUPCO drivers to stick to given time-tables or schedules when picking up travellers because most of the people reported to their workplaces and schools late due to the failure by the drivers to be on time.
“Sometimes we spend nearly the whole day waiting for the bus. In most instances, we will only get buses allocated for other suburbs when the drivers finish carrying the passengers from those areas. Many a time the ZUPCO buses break down and when this happens, kombis will take advantage and increase their fares to punish us,” Mr. Moyo said.
The residents have created ZUPCO WhatsApp groups to share information about the availability of the public transport that is on high demand.
‘We wish for ZUPCO to assist us with more buses because we are now getting into the rainy season when kombis will unilaterally increase the fares depending on the weather conditions,” said Mrs Laura Mwaya.
When petitioned by Warren Park D residents for more buses, the ZUPCO public relations officer cited lack of enough buses as the major impediment and pledged to come to assistance when the company gets more buses from the government.