The historical development of urban commuter transport system in Zimbabwe: a case study of Harare’s Mufakose high density suburb (1967-2017)

Abstract

The historical development of the urban commuter system in Rhodesia was as result of improved road infrastructure and the failure of the Salisbury City Council to create a bus system resulting in the sector being operated by a private company. Several factors led to the establishment of Mufakose and earliest developments in the commuter transport system were greatly linked to economic growth. The commuter transport system prior to the establishment of the suburb was under the monopoly of a private company which operated under a franchise of the Salisbury City Council. The bulk of the transport users was the working class and the sector was subsidised which led to the effectiveness of the bus system before 1980. After independence, two major policies of nationalisation and deregulation greatly affected the public transport. These policies accompanied by macro-economic challenges resulted in various changes to the public transport by the beginning of the twenty-first century marking the end of better days in the transport system. Public transport was associated with various changes as well as problems of informality in the system resulting in the government and local authorities initiating several policies in order to improve the urban transport system. Throughout the development of the system, there were several changes in the modes of transport and vehicles. Archival sources and reports were used to come out with this detailed research. Interviews with Mufakose residents (senior citizens, regular transport users, commuter omnibus operators and owners) were conducted. Information from various stakeholders in the transport sector was also used so as to complement the interviews and archival sources.