In order to alleviate the hardships experienced by the poor commuters in urban areas, the Government of Zimbabwe inaugurated an integrated rail/bus commuter service in the cities of Harare (capital city) and Bulawayo (second largest city). The system uses the existing rail with buses transporting passengers from residential areas to pick up points. Some analysts dismissed the integrated commuter system as a short-lived "political gimmick" meant to win the crucial urban vote during the presidential election held in March 2002. The paper seeks to examine trends in urban public transport provision in Zimbabwe, particularly focusing on the contribution to public transport so far made by this urban commuter service, as well as to critically assess the integrated commuter system in terms of how it operates, how the users perceive the system and whether the system is sustainable. For the covering abstract see ITRD E116619.
Samenvatting