Neil Fraser
August 23, 2004
OVER the past two weeks we have looked at what progress has been made in the inner-city regeneration process over the past decade in regard to Safety and Security, Informal Trading and Residential. They were three of six critical issues identified at the groundbreaking City Workshop held in November 1991. The others were Transportation and Taxis, Urban Design and Marketing. I'll look at Transportation and Taxis this week and finish off with the latter two next week.
I'll also pick up on some of the issues raised at the Cities in Change Conference in the next column. Judging from the extremely positive comments I received, it seems the conference, which finished on Thursday, was a great success.
Transportation and Taxis
From a visual point of view, transportation, particularly the minibus-taxi component, appears not to have progressed greatly during the past decade. In fact, the situation in various parts of the city looks, at best, chaotic! However, one needs to look at what has been done in two separate aspects of transportation in order to make a fair judgment because some significant work has been accomplished. The two aspects to consider are planning strategies and on-the-ground work.
Planning
The Transportation, Planning and Management Department is part of the City's Development Planning, Transport and Environment Unit. Two plans that will have a significant impact on the inner city have been developed by or for them. The first is the Integrated Transport Plan for 2003 to 2008, the second is the Inner City Distribution System. The former proposes a strategy that should achieve, over time, a safe and efficient transportation system, with a public transport focus, that will support a world-class City; connecting businesses, people and places in a sustainable and cost-effective manner and through this, improve the standard of living and quality of life of all the city's inhabitants and the overall competitiveness and growth of the City's economy.
The 547-page report is full of fascinating information - only nine percent of public transport trips are made on buses; 14 percent are made on trains (notwithstanding that 1.6 million people live within 1,5km of a railway station) and a huge 72 percent are made by taxi. I would have classified taxis as private transport especially as rail passengers are subsidised to the tune of R450 million per year, buses R140 million a year, while taxis receive zilch, nil, nothing! On the other hand, 80% of minibus taxis operating in the metro area do not have valid permits or operating licences! Private car ownership in the metro is growing and is projected to increase by 35% to 1,2 million by 2010. I guess it will take two or three hours to get to Pretoria unless the Gautrain makes a substantial difference. As it is, the average travel time to work within the metro area is 48 minutes (by car 30 minutes; by minibus taxi 45 and taxi-taxi 78 minutes). The average travel cost to work is R186 per month and the percentage of public transport users spending more than 10 percent of personal income on work travel is 46 percent. Thirteen percent of train users, 36 percent of bus users and 48 percent of taxi users are dissatisfied with costs. Nineteen percent of train users, 16 percent of bus and 66 percent of taxi users are dissatisfied with safety from accidents!
There are heaps of proposals in the report relative to short- and long-term Operating Licence Strategies; a Bus Rationalisation Plan, the Inner City Distribution System; public transport High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on major access roads to the inner city; etc. Of concern is the negative economic impact on the inner city as a result of redesigning transportation systems that will result in direct routing, that in turn will reduce the numbers of people passing through the inner city. Good marks to the City for an in-depth study on transportation and some interesting recommendations, whether you agree with them or not. But, the public consultation process resulted in only 142 people attending Open House Exhibitions and comments being received from 57 members of the public! Our apathy regarding issues that will affect our daily life is quite disturbing, as is our ability to protest when it is too late!
The second major research project to be recently completed addressed an Inner City Distribution System (ICDS). This research examines how accessibility and connectivity within the inner city can be improved, how to integrate inner-city transportation with the Gautrain, etc. The model tested an ICDS using 16-, 35- and 55-seater minibus taxis/commuter buses as well as tram and light rail systems. The final proposal is for a road-based system and, if we go that route, we will be missing out on a probably never-to-be-repeated opportunity to put in place the kind of system that we will be able to show off in 2010 and beyond, as evidence of our move to world-class status. So, again, good marks for research, but not for recommendation.
What about on-the-ground?
Positives: The major bus terminus for the city's bus transportation system, previously Van der Byl now Gandhi Square, was completely refurbished three to four years ago by the private sector and this project has brought about a major upliftment in that part of the inner city. A large part of the aging bus fleet was upgraded at the time of the World Summit. Gautrain will move us closer to world-class status. As with informal trade, a minibus-taxi strategy is being implemented regarding taxis ranking in the streets of the city. A number of old public parking garages have been converted for minibus-taxi usage: Jack Mincer on the southern edge of Joubert Park and the Kazerne parking garages on the west of the CBD. New ranks have been built for both long- and short-distance taxi ranking - Metro Mall on the west of the CBD, Westgate, Park City as part of Park Station, and the newly completed Faraday rank - all with he objective of removing a substantial number of minibus taxis from ranking on the streets. All good stuff, but how successful relative to taxis? Only partly.
There seem to be more taxis than ever ranking on the open ground just north of Metro Mall. The area around Joubert Park is chaotic, street ranks in town that were supposed to have been shut down when taxis moved into Faraday are worse (the one in Loveday between Commissioner and Market is a disgrace and has severely impacted on any possibility of formal retail trading) and more ranks have been formed in various parts of the city without any consultation with property owners.
Faraday has in fact now been complete for nearly nine months but taxis are not allowed to use it until they agree to a ranking fee. Nine months! A normal gestation period for a human being - yet not even signs of life whatsoever in reaching agreement with taxi associations. It's ludicrous, and the city and its economy suffers. Based on the subsidy figures I quoted earlier I have a lot of sympathy for the taxi industry. But they are holding the city to ransom and should be dealt with appropriately. And over and above this, is Faraday really going to take taxis off Loveday? It's miles away!
So, 7 out of 10 for planning, 7 out of 10 for facilities provided, but 1 out of ten for the on-the-street shambles - an aggregate of 5 out of 10. Not good enough!
