Public transport headache for Victoria Falls commuters

FOR many years Victoria Falls has been without commuter omnibuses as commuters relied on smaller six-seater Toyota Gaia vehicles which were later joined by Toyota Wish, FunCargo, Demio and lately Honda Fit.

These small cars are legally registered as metered taxis but illegally operate as commuter omnibuses which ended up pushing the kombis out of business.

Alleged residents’ impatience and negative attitude towards kombis is also said to be part of the reasons why the commuter omnibuses that used to operate in the town left.

Victoria Falls residents, most of whom were employed in the tourism industry, were so impatient waiting for a kombi to get full, preferring to ride on the smaller vehicles.

Because they had money, one could afford to hire a taxi home when coming from work or from shopping in town.

Even vendors could afford to hire a metered taxi and go home than wait for a kombi to be full.

Most companies also offered transport to their employees, leaving those not employed in the tourism sector, albeit a fraction of the town’s population, the only ones genuinely in need of public transport around town.

Slowly kombis disappeared from the streets as people preferred metered taxis which ended up commuting doing pick and drops.

This is despite the fact that metered taxis are prohibited from operating as kombis as their licences only allow them to be stationed at designated points and carry passengers on hire.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic which led to the lockdown that came into effect in March left a cross-section of industry including the taxi business grounded.

Government introduced Zupco buses in Victoria Falls with a fleet comprising one bus and a kombi.

During the lockdown, residents still preferred to hire metered taxis whose owners disguised the vehicles as private vehicles by removing registration plates disregarding lockdown rules.

Some residents have however, complained about chaos and noise caused by the taxis whose drivers hoot while hunting for customers as well as establishing illegal detours through the bush to town in an effort to evade police roadblocks.

With Government insisting that commuter omnibus operators in urban centres have to operate under the Zupco ambit to bring sanity, mshikashikas in Victoria Falls could kiss goodbye the business forever as they do not qualify to register as kombis.

Could this be an opportunity for kombis to make their way back onto the Victoria Falls’ streets?

Victoria Falls Combined Taxis Association chairperson Mr Oliver Mwembe said no taxis will register under Zupco as they are not commuter omnibus operators.

He, however, bemoaned the prevalence of unregistered taxis as he appealed to authorities to enforce the Road Traffic Act and council by-laws to protect registered operators and residents from chaos.

“We formed the association because there was no order. Everyone who bought a new ex-Japanese car registered it as a taxi and started commuting. There are concerns about chaos and noise. There were kombis in Victoria Falls before but because the town is small people were so impatient to wait for a kombi to get full and they would opt to hire taxis because they had money,” said Mr Mwembe.

He said the coming in of Zupco will not kill the taxi business.

“We don’t depend on commuters. We will revert to our taxi business once Government gives the nod. Ours is about waiting for clients at designated places like hotels, airport and shops because some workers generally don’t use public transport. So, we won’t join Zupco because ours are four-seater cars hence we will wait for tourism to pick up and for operating guidelines from the authorities,” said Mr Mwembe.

Cabinet last week allowed taxis to resume business to be able to carry tourists around.

Mr Mwembe said taxi operators offering commuter services were doing so illegally.

“Pick and drops are illegal. That’s mshikashika which was never there before. Although our cars are registered as public service vehicles, ours is taxi business and not kombis meaning one should park at a designated place and get hired by a client.

“This is what we have been calling on the municipality to protect us from unregistered operators who have flooded the market causing chaos. Everyone who buys a car makes it a taxi because of laxity in by-laws hence there are more taxis than the designated ranks which is why people moved to mshikashika,” he said.

The huge number of taxis in town has also led to formation of numerous associations which are affiliated to the Combined Taxis Association.

These include Border Taxis, Airport, Rainforest, Banks, Park Way, OK, TM Pick n Pay, Ok Mart, and others catering for those plying rural and long-distance routes.

A resident, Ms Noma Phiri said the new normal brought about by Covid-19 should also reflect in the change of lifestyle.

“People no longer have that money so we have to adjust and use Zupco and kombis which are cheaper,” she said.

Zupco buses charge $16 from town to Mkhosana suburb while mshikashikas charge US$1.-chronicle.cl.zw