The plan is part of what will eventually be a 25-year integrated transport master plan, incorporating what Gauteng roads & transport MEC Ismail Vadi calls the "Gauteng city region" but extends well beyond the borders of the province itself.
The Gauteng Transport Implementation Plan, a new five-year blueprint that was drafted by transport and urban planning experts, was released late last month.
There are, however, many hurdles to be surmounted. These include funding, the ability to integrate planning, the rewriting of the onerous bus subsidy system as well as ensuring the co-operation of the taxi industry. Making sure all these moving parts work together won't come easily, and the province has yet to flesh out how it plans to tackle these issues.
The plan proposes the full integration of different transport implementing agencies, including the Passenger Rail Agency of SA, Transnet, the Airports Company SA, Metrorail, each city's bus rapid transit (brT) system and the SA National Roads Agency.
"They may be different implementing agencies, but for once let's use the same blueprint," says Vadi.
The proposal would also mean that Gauteng's three metros would have to hand over their transport-planning power to a provincial transport authority. Vadi says preliminary discussions with metros have already taken place.
The National Land Transport Act makes provision for metros to plan and execute transport strategies, as there is often just one metro in a province. But in Gauteng, which has three metros, having three transport authorities gives rise to competing, rather than complementary, interests, Vadi says.
The metros and each implementing agency will have to agree to the plan for it to work. Vadi has appointed Gautrain CEO Jack van der Merwe as the chairman of the steering committee responsible for the 25-year plan.
Van der Merwe expects the five-year plan, which contains 11 initial objectives, to be approved by the end of the year. Principally, the report proposes a change to the approach to transport planning. Bottlenecks and an inadequate public transport system won't be resolved by relying on one mode of transport. Integration, he says, is vital.
"We have to move away from just building more roads." Such construction must be undertaken only if needed for public transport, he says.
The 11 objectives are:
Vadi says Gauteng's population is projected to grow to 16m by 2037, from 11m now. The impact of that growth will cripple the province's transport infrastructure if planning is lacking.
With better planning, he says, rail will be positioned as the backbone of the system, for use over long distances and for a large number of commuters. brT systems and other bus services will operate on major trunk routes, while the system envisions using taxis for feeder routes only, and with schedules.
The provincial transport head of department, Mavela Dlamini, says taxis have to be corporatised. The province needs to be able to contract with them as one legal structure, rather than as myriad operators that function independently. This will come with a regulated code of conduct and fee structure.
Despite the province's optimism, not everyone believes the proposals can work. The plan is "rooted in the past", says transport & supply chain management lecturer at the University of Johannesburg Vaughan Mostert. It fails to address the issue of the efficiency of bus subsidies, which are a legacy of apartheid.
Mostert also says the plan will get into trouble when it tries to raise finance for its big-ticket projects in the face of weak global economic conditions.
Funding sources have been discussed, but nothing is finalised, Van der Merwe says. Funds could be sought directly from government.
Alternatively, the province may apply the user-pays principle. Privatising certain corridors is also up for discussion.
Dlamini says there is the danger of encumbering the province by not producing a long-term plan simply because the province cannot afford it. "Resources should follow the plan, not the other way around."
Agencies like Prasa have already budgeted for their fleet renewal plans, and cities like Johannesburg have budgeted for projects like the brT.
The plan's long-term vision, Dlamini says, will be the streamlining of the investment of different implementing agencies and metros. Planning needs to produce an integrated, well-thought-out system that will meet the needs of residents.
The 25-year plan replaces an expired 30-year plan, which was drafted in 1970.
Mostert's concern is also with planning itself. The strategy adds to a list of other plans that Gauteng and its municipalities have flirted with over the past 20 years, but with little result.
For example, Mostert was part of an initiative to formalise the taxi industry 19 years ago by drafting routes and schedules. That plan failed to materialise.
Source: Financial Mail via I-Net Bridge
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