The Transport Department and Gauteng metro police on Monday night declared the first day of the pilot high-occupancy vehicle lane on the highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria a success, despite a rocky start.
”Considering it was the first day, it can’t go without hiccups but we are optimistic that it will work,” said metro spokesperson Inspector Edna Mamonyane.
The pilot project — in which a lane of the Ben Schoeman highway is dedicated to vehicles travelling with three or more people — began on Monday and will continue until Friday.
The lane applies to the south-bound highway from 6am to 9am and switches to the north-bound highway in the afternoon, between 3.30pm and 6.30pm.
In conjunction with the electronic billboards provided by the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) over 40 metro vehicles and a large number of provincial traffic officers were on hand to assist motorists on how to use the lane.
Most motorists were unaware that the fast lane has been reserved for vehicles with three or more occupants only, Mamonyane said.
”In the five years I’ve been travelling from Pretoria to Johannesburg, today’s the worst traffic I’ve ever encountered,” said Pretoria resident Christian Nel.
Nel said it had taken him over two hours to travel 15km.
”Drivers alone in their cars weren’t bothered about the dedicated lane and used it anyway,” one motorist said.
Metro police officers were stationed about a kilometre apart along the 36km stretch of the highway. Mamonyane said no fines were handed out to transgressors.
”At the moment, we are not issuing fines until we look back [on the pilot project] and see how we did this week,” she said.
”But because there are road signs, if the minister [of transport] says we can fine, then we can easily do it.”
”I think it went very well,” transport department spokesperson Alfred Nhlapo said.
Nhlapo said an observation team that included Transport Minister Jeff Radebe and the provincial minister travelled the 36km stretch of the highway on Monday and were ”satisfied” that it was operating well.
Radebe joined the metro police team at the Allandale offramp in Midrand where he issued pamphlets to motorists.
”We accept that it can’t be for everybody, but we will continue to work with motorists to make it work,” Nhlapo said.
Meanwhile, South Africa unveiled a plan on Monday to ease traffic gridlock and cut road deaths as it prepares to host the 2010 soccer World Cup.
Vehicle accidents are one of the top 10 killers in South Africa, with about half of the estimated 14 000 fatalities each year involving pedestrians who were hit by a vehicle. With the country set to host the world’s biggest sporting event in four years, the race is on to improve public transport to ensure the smooth flow of players and spectators to stadiums.
The government is seeking Cabinet approval to spend R5-billion ($652,1-million) per year between now and 2014 to improve everyday transport. It already has the green light to spend R3,8-million to bolster infrastructure specifically for the World Cup.
Radebe said the government plans to widen and restore existing highways and construct new ones, lay rail tracks to link cities and outlying areas, and launch a campaign to discourage car use.
It will also create bicycle and pedestrian paths and improve bus routes in major centres.
Like elsewhere in Africa, South Africa’s cities virtually grind to a halt during rush-hour and last week Finance Minister Trevor Manuel described the peak-time commute as ”hell.”
Some have questioned whether ambitious transit projects will improve life for everyday citizens.
”All of the investment that we want to make on public transportation is not only for 2010 soccer but we want to leave a lasting legacy for the people of this country,” Radebe told reporters at the close of a two-day transport conference in Soweto.
The government has already announced plans to invest about R700-billion over the next seven years to revamp the transport and electricity sector and on other major infrastructure projects.
Engineers, urban planners, labour groups, and officials from all tiers of government have backed the strategy, said Radebe.
The government also hopes the new transport strategy will help cut the number of road accidents that result in death and injury by half by 2015. – Reuters, Sapa