Gauteng transport strategy not even in gear

None was ever implemented. Indeed, previous plans were abandoned during a change of administration, or have simply sat on the shelf. Will this latest plan be any different?

Vadi says it proposes a "radical paradigm shift in spatial and transport planning". It aims to shift transport patterns from:

• Private to public transport;
• Motorised to non-motorised trips (pedestrian walkways and cycle lanes);

• Road to rail.

But transport analyst Paul Browning points out that Vadi's five-year plan has yet to get off the ground. At its launch in November last year, Vadi said it was a short-term (2013-2017) intervention to alleviate blockages. It was intended to be the foundation for the 25-year integrated transport master plan, and was to be "operationalised immediately".

It aims to create a single transport authority for Gauteng and introduce a one fare system across nodes. It also hopes to improve rail transport, restructure bus subsidies, transform the taxi industry, introduce pedestrian paths and cycle lanes, and improve access to freight nodes.

Previous efforts failed

Previous efforts to undertake many of the same tasks failed. In 2008, the province established the Gauteng Transport Management Authority under then roads and transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs. But it was unsupported politically.

Similarly, efforts to revise bus subsidies and transform the taxi industry, two key elements of the transport system, failed. Successful implementation will be the department's greatest challenge.

Moreover, Browning says neither the five-year nor the 25-year plan admits to its proposals being derived from and consistent with the cabinet-approved Public Transport Strategy of 2007.

The 2007 strategy emphasised that improving existing services was the most important pillar of future action. These include consolidating passenger rail, implementing the taxi recapitalisation plan, and transforming subsidised bus services. These elements are regarded as critical to the transformation of public transport.

But Browning says most of government's attention is focused on the second pillar: mass rapid public transport networks. Little attention has been given to improving existing services. "Yet that would provide the best opportunity for immediate improvements to the travel experience of the large numbers of Gauteng residents who are dependent on the existing services," he says.

University of Johannesburg lecturer Vaughan Mostert has concerns about the bus routes selected for development. He says new routes don't appear to be integrated with other services like subsidised buses, Metrobus and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.

He says proposals that the BRT will be extended in Johannesburg are surprising, given its failure to transport sufficient passengers to warrant more investment.

Still, Vadi's plan is commendable. The department will have to divide the 25year plan into manageable chunks. As a start, Vadi's office must focus on the basics: integrated rail, a regulated and policed taxi service and an overhaul of apartheid-era bus subsidies. All are tough nuts to crack. But until these elements are resolved, integrated mobility in Gauteng will exist only on paper.

Source: Financial Mail via I-Net Bridge