National transport policies stagnating

The department has missed a number of deadlines for completion or formulation of policies needed to regulate the pricing of transport infrastructure. Policy was required to guide the economic priorities of rail investments worth hundreds of billions of rand and to free up sectors, such as maritime, to attract investment and create employment.

"The biggest failing of the department is the most obvious one," Democratic Alliance (DA) transport spokesman Ian Ollis said in a recent interview.

"There is no national transport plan to indicate how transport modes are supposed to be integrated. Without a plan showing how aeroplanes, trains, cars, buses, rapid transport systems and so forth are interconnected or how can they meet the public transport needs," said Ollis.

However, Tiyani Rikhotso, a spokesman for the department, said in an e-mail that the NatMap 2050 - the long-term integrated transport plan that has not moved out of draft form since 2010 - "is in the process of being submitted to Cabinet for consideration" and should be approved before the end of the year.

Last month, Transport Minister Ben Martins pushed the Transport and Related Matters Amendment Bill through Parliament. The bill empowers the state to implement e-tolling, yet the bill had gathered dust since 2008 when it was first gazetted.

Bills languishing

"The bill still needed to go through the National Council of Provinces for approval," Rikhotso said. Last month, an amendment bill for the National Land Transport Act was published for public comment.

This bill guides policy towards increased public transport integration and greater regulation of public transport operators, largely the minibus taxi industry.

However, under the old National Land Transport Act of 2009, there was already an emphasis on extending public transport and a greater integration of public transport modes.

Despite this little has happened. The National Public Transport Regulator has never been established, and few, if any, of the 12 largest metros have a completed integrated public transport network plan (IPTN).

A further indication of the murkiness in the department is the quality of its information. According to Rikhotso the IPTNs were all completed except for one unnamed metropolitan council.

Cities, he said, had finalised their operational plans "which is the last stage before infrastructure roll-out".

However, Gauteng transport MEC Ismail Vadi said last week the IPTN for the province had not yet been through his office, and Cape Town mayoral committee member Brett Herron said in a recent interview that the city's IPTN would be only available for public comment in August.

A single transport economic regulator (STER), that would regulate the pricing of all transport infrastructure including airports, roads, ports and railways was supposed to be in place in February. But Rikhotso said the department would make recommendations on the scope of the STER during the course of the year.

A policy for the development of the maritime sector was meant to be completed before the end of last year. Yet, according to Rikhotso, the consultation process "is ongoing".

Policy drift

Independent transport economist Andrew Marsay and the University of Johannesburg's head of department for transport Jackie Walters agree that the department has suffered from years of policy drift and they were concerned about the grave economic consequences of this.

Between Transnet, the state-owned freight and logistics company, and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA a combined investment of about R341bn will be made over the next seven to 20 years. But SA has no rail policy.

A green paper for railways that would determine the future role of rail transportation stalled last year. A commitment to share the policy by June last year for public comment was made more than a year ago after an earlier December 2011 deadline came and went.

Rikhotso said a green paper on rail policy would be released this year. One of the difficulties for rail, Walters said, was that "it falls through the cracks" between the Department of Transport, responsible for transport policy, and the Department of Public Enterprises, Transnet's shareholder.

Marsay said Transnet should be required to test independently the assumptions that have informed its R205bn rail investment policy.

"Positive economic development outcomes,from Transnet's huge infrastructure programme could only be achieved if Transnet focused on investing in the business sectors where rail commanded a natural advantage; where a margin could earned. This would see a bias to heavy haul corridors," he said.

"Continued over-investment in businesses sectors where costs will always be higher than revenues will deliver long term economic stagnation, not positive development impacts," Marsay said in reference to the planned investments in Transnet's general freight business.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge