The Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) has deployed around 80 of its new 122 buses to ply long-distance routes countrywide as well as cross-border routes like Malawi, Botswana and Zambia.
While ZUPCO also accepts all forms of payment without adding premiums, private bus operators demand up to 30 per cent extra on EcoCash transactions.
ZUPCO regional operational manager Tito Chirau had this to say:
The newly-acquired buses, white in colour, are the ones plying long-distance routes, but we are in the process of refurbishing the old ones so that they can assist in plying rural routes with dirt roads.
Our traditional buses (blue) are the ones that are plying cross border routes and our fares like always are way below what the other buses are charging.
The ZUPCO buses charge subsidised fares as part of the Government’s efforts to ameliorate the suffering of the masses.
Currently, the ZUPCO fleet comprises 516 conventional buses and 458 kombis, with many of them privately-owned but operating under franchise.