The City of Bulawayo caters for public transport operators by providing ranking facilities and designation of routes in an effort to provide safe and efficient public transportation system for the city. For long distance inter city buses, the City of Bulawayo has three termini. These are Renkini, Entumbane and Nkulumane and these service the routes as determined by geographic location. A bus terminus allows a bus to rank and load passengers and goods without interfering with other road users and this maybe over an extended time period depending on the bus’s timetabling. The bus termini servicing the various routes are as follows;
ROUTE SCHEDULE
| CITY/AREA | ROUTE OUT OF THE CITY |
|---|---|
| HARARE | ERenkini Terminus proceed down 2nd Street turning right onto Third Avenue extension turning left into Joshua Mqabuko Street then right onto First Avenue, proceeding down Harare Road to Harare. |
| PLUMTREE | Nkulumane Country Bus Terminus proceed northwards down Siye-Pambili Drive then turn right onto Plumtree Road, proceeding down Plumtree Road to Plumtree. |
| VICTORIA FALLS | Entumbane Country Bus Terminus proceed down Luveve Road turning right onto Siye-Pambili Drive, proceed down Siye-Pambili turning left onto Victoria Falls Road, proceeding Victoria Falls Road to Victoria Falls. |
| MASVINGO/GWANDA/BEITBRIDGE | ERenkini Terminus proceed down 2nd Street turning right onto Third Avenue extension turning right onto Fort Street then left onto Fourth Avenue proceeding down Fourth Avenue onto 7th Street turning right onto George Avenue then turning left onto Leopold Takawira Avenue Extension proceeding down Leopold Takawira Extension into Gwanda road to Masvingo/Beitbridge. |
The City also provides pick up points which allow a bus to stop and pick up passengers in a very limited time period which does not allow a bus to rank or park for an extended time period. Bus operators are aware of the existing routes and there is also continuous engagement with them to discuss arising operational issues such as illegal ranks and pick up points. For example, the buses plying the Harare, Masvingo, Gwanda and Beitbridge Routes however can pick up passengers from the 2nd Ave and Samuel Parirenyatwa Street Rank.
The existing termini and routes are detailed as follows:
Fig.1 Intra-City Bus Routes from Entumbane, Nkulumane and ERenkini Country Bus Termini
It should be noted that picking up of passengers in the Central Business District (CBD) is not permitted save for designated termini which are advised to the bus operators. Due to the use of illegal pick-up points, undesignated ranking facilities and routing violations, there is continuous engagement between the City and operators. The City of Bulawayo on the 9th January 2023, engaged external stakeholders for the purposes of encouraging stakeholder engagement in Transportation related issues. The stakeholders included various bus operators, Haulage trucks and various Media entities. The major issues on the agenda were as follow:
Through dialogue, the stakeholders came to following resolutions;
To date there has been a positive response from bus operators as Renkini is now back in use and engagement continues to be carried out to mitigate illegal and unwanted behavior by bus operators.
The City of Bulawayo further calls on the travelling public to board from designated sites for their safety as well.
NESISA MPOFU
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER.
