Rowdy drivers man public service transport
THE public service vehicles in Zambia are manned by rowdy and unruly drivers who pay little or no attention to the traffic rules, the Zambia Road Safety Trust (ZRST) chairman Daniel Mwamba has noted.
Mr Mwamba said it was encouraging that Transport and Communications Minister Brian Mushimba had an opportunity to use public transport during weekends in preference to riding in his ministerial vehicle, so that he could see what public users go through.
Mr Mushimba was last Sunday pictured in a minibus and quoted by the media saying that he was very happy that he had taken the ride on the bus because it was an eye-opener to do something about public transport, under his ministry’s holistic and comprehensive umbrella of improving and uplifting public transportation in the country.
Mr Mwamba said his organisation was concerned that public service vehicles in Zambia were faced with uncontrollable drivers who pay little to no attention to the traffic rules.
“Our minibuses are overcrowded, lacking in space and information, are cramped and often uncomfortable and those who ride in them are seen to have no other better alterna- tives,” he said.
He said the alternative model use of private vehicles had increasingly resulted in congestion, poor mobility and air pollution, despite the government and other stakeholders having in the past tried to bring sanity to this industry, little or nothing has changed.
Mr Mwamba said it was ZRST mission to see an improvement in public transport safety and comfort with less pollution.
He said research showed that most of the traffic deaths and injuries occur by public service vehicles, either as passengers, drivers or even passing pedestrians, with over 2,206 people who were killed in 2016 on Zambian roads, an increase of nearly 100 percent since 2010.
“When it comes to public transport services in Zambia, responsibilities are often ambiguously divided among different agencies and misaligned goals and complicating policies has led to inefficient resource allocation among ministries.
“It is for this reason, that we appreciate the minister’s new attitude, and we shall support him in addressing the main ills that our urban transport system current faces in Zambia,” Mr Mwamba said.