There can be no denying the fact that ZUPCO has been a much-needed lifeline to struggling urban commuters. Their affordable fares of $1 and $2 have brought much-needed pressure on kombi operators who had become a menace, increasing fares on a whim.

But just helpful has been ZUPCO? Well, the Herald has published some handy statistics on ZUPCO operations ever since the state-owned entity was revived.

The company has about 500 buses that is those that it owns outright and those that it operates on a franchise basis
It currently has 383 kombis most of these are probably on a franchise basis
It ferries 500 000 people per day to work (one-way trip). That’s a lot of people. [Note: The Herald calls them trips but given the number of buses it owns its impossible: that means an average of over 500 trips a bus. Now that is just ridiculous]
It ferries 100 000 people per day on inter-city journies
The company wants to increase its kombis to 1 000 from 383 to plug gaps that still exist
The company claims it now has 65% of the urban transport market share. Even the Herald rubbishes this.
Thanks to the fuel deal with the government franchise members are now able to put their buses on the road 7 days a week
Also, a lot of mileage was spent hunting fuel now buses are travelling 200 to 250 km a day 40% less than they were but they are now making more actual productive trips
Customers are now spending at most half what they were spending on transport before ZUPCO came on the roads