BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) will soon penalise luxury coach operators operating from undesignated areas, which do not provide a waiting room and ablution facilities.
Report by Fortune Moyo, Staff Reporter
Most luxury coaches in the city which drop and pick passengers along George Silundika Street and between 3rd to Sixth Avenues, use undesignated areas.
According to the latest council minutes, more stringent measures would soon be put in place for such luxury coaches.
“There are some luxury coaches which are operating from undesignated areas and it is difficult to penalise such companies with no designated places,” council said.
“There was need to put more stringent and deterrent measures for such companies.”
Greyhound and Citiliner luxury coaches were levied a punitive penalty of $50 every day for not having a waiting room and ablution facilities for passengers.
“Council’s requirements are that luxury coaches should have a provision of a waiting room, toilets and related facilities for passengers,” council also said.
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The council minutes further stated the local authority’s long-term position was to establish a travel centre for luxury coaches in the city.
“The initial concept of council was to establish a travel centre where all luxury coaches would operate from. Although a site was identified and tendered out for the development of a travel centre, the facility had remained undeveloped up to now,” the minutes read.
“The thrust had since changed and the focus was now to develop Egodini into an all-inclusive transport hub.”
As a stop-gap measure, council had allowed luxury coaches to operate from various points in the city subject to compliance with set conditions.
According to the council minutes, luxury coaches such as Passenger Express and Platinum Coaches were operating illegally.
Some of the conditions for the operation of luxury coaches stated that the companies should provide waiting rooms, offices and adequate toilet facilities for their clients.
The coaches’ operators were also required to have timetables for picking up and dropping off passengers which had to be displayed at the companies. Dropping off and picking up of passengers shall be limited to a time period of 45 minutes at a time.
