New online daily transport publication

The publication features commuter bus and rail service timetables and tariffs for city and intercity travel where these are known. Legal and technical issues, driver strikes and taxi protests are also covered when they occur.

Transport & Tourism News (TNT News) has been posted by Udo Rypstra, former editor of Fleetwatch and award-winning transport and tourism journalist, following eight months of research, development and database input.

“I am sure it will be a handy guide for thousands of foreign sports fans who must currently be planning their travel arrangements for the FIFA Confederations Cup in June and the FIFA World Cup next year. I have even posted the proposed rates for the Gautrain and Reya Vaya,” Rypstra said.

“As far as tourism is concerned, we specialise in overland travel modes only and not air travel, shipping and tourist accommodation. The latter are well covered in newspapers and full-blown travel magazines. We are homing in on vehicles - from camper homes to luxury coaches and overland trucks,” continued Rypstra.

Phase two of the project is to list all road freight operators and their areas of specialisation - courier services, household removals, refrigerated and dangerous goods, etc - which is said to be underway.

Buyer's guide

A buyer's guide on the site lists the various light to extra-heavy commercial vehicle models on offer in South Africa by category - not manufacturer - as well as their latest prices. Apart from coaches, buses and government-approved mini- and midi taxies, there are separate categories for messenger bikes, pick-ups, vans, tippers, compactors etc.

“The idea now is to link each vehicle model to the respective vehicle specification page on the manufacturer's website so that people will not only be able to compare prices in each category easily, but also quickly compare performance data as well. This has not been done before in SA, but I feel it is necessary. After all, the cheapest is not always the best in the long run and most fleet operators know that,” Rypstra said.

To view the publication, go to www.tntnews.co.za