By Sipho Maduna
PAY up, taxi and bus operators have been told. From the beginning of 2006 public transporters will have to pay cab licence fees to carry passengers.
The new licences, approved by the City council in October, will come into effect from 1 January 2006. They will apply to all operators of road-based public transport, namely minibus taxis, metered taxis and buses.
According to the Gauteng Provincial Road Traffic Act, 10 of 1997, municipalities are allowed to determine the fees to be charged of any person conveying passengers for money. The City may also determine how the fee is paid, for example, in a single annual payment.
The licence gives road-based public transport operators the right to operate within the City's municipal boundary.
There are 960 subsidised buses on Joburg roads, and 865 unsubsidised buses; the cab licence is R1 000 per vehicle. There are 10 880 short distance and 2 000 long distance minibus taxis. The cab licence for each of these is R400 per vehicle.
There are also 2 000 metered taxis; metered taxi operators have to pay R200 for each taxi.
While the City charged cab licence fees previously, the system was stopped. In 2000 and 2001 operators paid R30 a year for metered taxis, R120 a year for minbus taxis and R700 a year for buses.
The council believed that those fees were too low to help finance a public transport infrastructure. It estimates that R7,4-million will be raised in the first stage of the programme.
The City maintains that it has to raise finance to operate and maintain public transport infrastructure, including roads, lay-byes and traffic signals.
At present, the City collects user fees from minibus taxi and bus operators. It requires taxis to pay for the use of individual ranks. The cab licence is intended to replace this user payment system.
The cab licence will be linked to the renewal of vehicle licences and will be paid at the City's vehicle licensing department. Money generated will go towards the maintenance and management of taxi and bus ranks.
Most of the formal ranking facilities in Johannesburg are unfunded and are either being used for free, or are not being used at all.
Funded ranks are in Yeoville, Hillbrow, Metro Mall, Rosebank, Jeppe, Faraday, Park City, Kazerne, Park Central and Bara Phase 2.
Unfunded ranks are in Randburg, Eldorado Park, Midrand, Kliptown, Phefeni, Rabie Ridge, Diepsloot, Sandton and Sunninghill, all of which are new. The old rank in Roodepoort is also unfunded.
The City cannot afford to operate all these facilities; in some cases ranks are ready to be used, but there is no operating budget for them. The loss of capital investment tends to be higher than the cost of upfront management, as the facilities are unsecured, unmanaged and unmaintained, opening the door to vandalism.
According to the Johannesburg Property Company, about 77 formal and informal ranks owe service charges to the City, including payments for water and lights and solid waste disposal. The estimated arrears in December 2004 was R7,6-million.
To some extent, public transport operators receive priority treatment in terms of dedicated infrastructure and services to ensure that they operate smoothly.
The City's public transport priorities are contained in its Integrated Transport Plan.
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