Lower congestion will provide savings

The Gautrain could provide savings of up to R250 million a month for the South African economy according to an assessment by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry published in The New Age on Monday.

The chamber says that the reduced traffic flow on the highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria would help speed up road freight deliveries. It says that a study, conducted over a two year period, found delays caused by traffic congestion on the N1 highway were costing R15 million an hour.

The highway is the busy one in South Africa and frequently becomes gridlocked during morning and afternoon peaks. The New Age says that since the Gautrain started running there has been a significant improvement in traffic volumes with fewer cars using the highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

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