August 22, 2003
By Thomas Thale
THE City of Johannesburg has unanimously adopted a comprehensive, multi-pronged plan to overhaul the public transport system, improve transport infrastructure and reduce the number of vehicles on main roads during peak hours.
The plan seeks to streamline the existing public transport infrastructure to provide an improved service to commuters. With the new plan, public transport in the city will be demand-driven.
In the long term, the plan will see buses and taxis, painted a uniform colour, transporting commuters along new routes determined by demand and at cheaper fares, fixed in consultation with the City. Buses, taxis and trains will use an integrated ticketing system.
The ITP proposes the introduction of special lanes for public transport. Called the High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes, these lanes will be aimed at speeding up travelling times for vehicles carrying the bulk of commuters. The lanes may cater for private cars caring more than a specified number of passengers.
The plan also calls on employers to consider introducing flexi-times, so that the effect of the peak demand by traffic on the road network can be diluted. Heavy-duty vehicles moving hazardous substances and goods are to be channelled along specific corridors.
The Census 2001 report revealed that about half of the 1,15-million regular travellers on city roads use private vehicles, 36 percent travel by minibus taxis, and the rest are evenly split between trains and buses. The plan is therefore designed to reduce the number of private vehicles on the road and optimise the use of resources.
The passage of the plan through Council makes Joburg the first municipality in Gauteng to develop and adopt an Integrated Transport Plan in line with the National Land Transport Transition Act of 2000. The Act requires local authorities to formulate a five-year transport plan, detailing the authority's "vision, policy and objectives, consistent with national and provincial policies, due regard being paid to any relevant integrated development planning or land development objectives".
The Gauteng Transport Framework Revision Act of 2002, which was tabled in May but is yet to be promulgated, also provides a framework for the development of a safe, efficient, cost-effective and integrated provincial transport system and infrastructure.
Central to the City's ITP is a proposal to set up a Strategic Transport Network, a 325-km stretch of corridors based on grids servicing 45 nodes. Mainly buses and taxis, with 18-seater recapitalised taxis also providing feeder services, will service the network.
A crucial component of the network will be the opening up of a new north-south corridor, linking Soweto to the CBD and to Sunninghill. Another east-west corridor will be set up, providing a link between Alexandra and Sandton/Randburg and Roodepoort. Subsidised services will also be provided to far-flung parts of the city such as Diepsloot, Ivory Park, Alexandra, Orange Farm and Cosmo City.
Travelling around the CBD also promises to be a breeze with the introduction of the inner city distribution service spanning a 16km route. It is proposed that 18-seater taxis operate the routes at five-minute intervals.
The rail line between the city and Soweto will be upgraded. With the taxi recapitalisation programme, the number of taxis might come down from the current 12 500 to 9 000, further reducing congestion on city roads.
The implementation of the plan will require a budget of R346-million from now until the end of 2005, with R272-million going towards capital expenditure.
The plan proposes that a detailed assessment on the establishment of Transport Authority (TA) be further investigated. The investigation will include the development of a business case for a TA detailing the costs and benefits to the City of such an authority. One advantage of establishing a TA could be that it will better coordinate transport-related activities currently undertaken by the various council Utilities, Agencies and Corporatised entities, including the Joburg Roads Agency, the Development Agency, Metrobus, the metro police, the Joburg Property Company and the Metropolitan Trading Company, which currently operate in a fragmented way.
With the new plan, travelling within the city promises to be a seamless journey designed around hubs which act as feeders to each other. Information will be available to travellers at key points.
The plan will now be submitted to the MEC of Transport, who will study it before it is published in the provincial Gazette.
