By Wallace Mawire
Passengers Association of Zimbabwe’s, (PAZ), National Coordinator, Tafadzwa Goliati, has called on responsible authorities to review oversubscribed routes to end conflicts involving operators who transport people using buses.
Goliati said as the Passengers Association of Zimbabwe, (PAZ), they do not encourage passengers to get involved in route disputes among bus operators, emphasising that competition should not result in bus wars, but should improve transport viability and safety.
He added that most of the conflicts start with touts and oversubscribed routes where passengers ultimately become victims of the competition.
“It is imperative that the Road Motor Transportation department reviews these routes in the interest of passenger safety. It is disheartening to hear individuals in the transport sector declaring wars over personal differences,” Goliati said.
He added that with the poor state of roads in some areas , every bus operator wants tarred roads and lucrative routes that give quick returns.
Goliati urged government to prioritize re-engineering, as some of the roads have lived beyond their lifespan.
“We have routes which do not have transport due to the poor state of our roads,” Goliati said.
The report comes at a time when there has been increasing conflict between transport operators resulting in violence and passengers being ill treated and loosing valuables and property during travelling.