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
Leave A Comment