Free transport for nurses, doctors

NURSES and doctors at hospitals throughout Zimbabwe are set to get free transport for 30 days as Cassava Smartech’s Vaya unit rolls out new exciting services.

These are a car-sharing service called Vaya Carpool and a minibus service called Vaya Shuttle. Both services will be launched on August 15, said the group in an update.

It said the Vaya Carpool will be open to all members of the public and allows people to share a car and cut costs.

“Vaya already has over 16 000 registered cars on its digital On Demand Service.

“A computer programme is able to do the scheduling automatically as well as plan the routes,” it said.

Vaya Shuttle is an On Demand Service that uses minibuses instead of cars.

Vaya has been testing what it calls Vaya Corporate Shuttle in which companies and organisations can order mini buses to take their staff to and from home.

Parent company, Econet, already uses the service for its own employees and has a separate service for taking children to and from school — all for free.

The group said its Vaya Corporate Shuttle was aimed at companies and organisations who want to help their employees with transport.

“As long as you have at least 10 employees going to an area, you will be able to schedule their pick up using the Vaya Corporate Shuttle,” Vaya business unit head, Mrs Dorothy Zimuto, said.

On the free service to healthcare workers for 30 days, Mrs Zimuto said:

“We know how hard it is out there and we wanted to find a way to show our own appreciation to people who save lives every single day.”

She said Cassava will pay the drivers for the collections during the 30 days, adding that all the workers at registered hospitals and clinics will be able to use the service, not just nurses and doctors.

“The way it will work is that a hospital or clinic must apply to use the service and then register each employee who will then be issued with a ‘digital pass’ for use on the minibus. Every person who is registered must also download the Vaya App and key in their digital pass,” said the group.

While nurses and other hospital workers will be using minibuses on Vaya Shuttle, it said doctors and other senior administrators will be able to share a car under another service that will be launched at the same time called Vaya Carpool.

“You can have up to three doctors travel with Vaya Carpool. It will also be free for a month,” said Mrs Zimuto.

Vaya is hoping that businesses in Zimbabwe will use Vaya Carpool and Shuttle to move their executives to and from work and save fuel for the whole country.

This means private cars can stay at home for use at weekends.

Mrs Zimuto said fuel demand can be cut by as much as 50 percent if “we all” use Vaya Carpool and Shuttle for getting to work and schools.

“Econet employees all use the services and it has been remarkable. Our people get to work on time, their kids and spouses also access the service, and we do it all for free right now,” she said.

Several hospitals are part of the free trial, but after the 15th of August, Vaya is planning to deploy hundreds of minibuses and thousands of cars for the free 30-day period.