“There is no magic wand that can solve transport issues,” says Rehana Moosajee, the Johannesburg mayoral committee member for transport, “but we can begin to change things.”
While road rage, safety, traffic congestion, public transport strikes and minibus-taxi violence have grabbed media headlines, solutions to transport crises are quietly under way. Recently the Soweto Express, a new luxury train service aimed at business commuters, was launched between Naledi Station, Soweto, and Park Station in central Johannesburg.
Work is progressing on the Gautrain, one of the biggest and most ambitious public projects ever undertaken. On the day of Moosajee’s interview, a R22-billion upgrade to the Ben Schoeman Highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria was announced. In contrast, Johannesburg’s planned bus rapid transport system has a fairly low price tag of R2-billion for its infrastructure.
“There’s a general acknowledgement that we have under-invested in public transport,” Moosajee says. “It’s incremental. We’re not going to get it all right in one go. The key is integrating.”
Moosajee’s concern is to shift the focus of public transport. “The needs of the commuter must be central.”
The new bus rapid transport system the city is adopting, known as Rea Vaya or BRT, will run from 5am to midnight, with buses every three minutes in peak times and every 10 minutes in off-peak times.
Efficiency is another focus. There will be penalties for buses that arrive late, are dirty or break down. Safety concerns have been considered and the buses will use closed stations that are well lit, possibly incorporating closed-circuit TV cameras.
Then there is affordability. “No household should spend more than 10% on transport. Because of apartheid planning, the poorest of the poor live far from the centre of the city and spend the most on transport. They work to get to work,” Moosajee says.
Through Rea Vaya, the city is extending an olive branch to the minibus-taxi industry, which is often defensive when public transport initiatives are discussed. There is a sentiment that “government wants to wish away the taxi industry,” Moosajee says. “But I don’t think that’s what we are saying.”
Rea Vaya represents an opportunity for the taxi industry to take advantage of changes in transport policy, she believes.
“Our departure point is that 47% of trips [in Johannesburg] are by public transport and of that 47%, 72% are done by the taxi industry. We are acknowledging the centrality of the taxi industry in transport planning.”
Fast, efficient buses moving in dedicated lanes will replace many of the minibus taxis. The full network will see about 300km of priority routing rolled out in the next few years, with the first phase on stream by February 2009 and the next phase completed in April 2010.
Prompted by the Columbian example on which it is based, Johannesburg is aiming for zero job losses among taxi operators. “We see this as an extension of the taxi recapitalisation programme,” says Moosajee.
The recap and Rea Vaya offer several options to the industry. “It does allow people to take their R50 000 and exit the industry.”
In addition, recapitalised 32-seater taxis might be able to supply services on feeder routes, depending on the size of vehicle needed. In this case, the taxi industry would collaborate with the rapid buses, rather than compete. She says taxi operators can form partnerships with bus companies, or form their own companies, to take advantage of the BRT.
Related support services such as back-office infrastructure and cleaning services can be provided by taxi operators who have exited the industry. “We’re aiming for zero job losses,” she says.
Because the buses will run 18 hours a day, drivers will be required to work one of three shifts a day. Bus operators will be refunded according to each kilometre travelled, rather than per passenger, which changes the entire model of present taxi transport. “There’s a sense that the industry is oversaturated, with the fights over routes,” Moosajee says.
Bringing the taxi industry on board means that Johannesburg’s planners can take advantage of operators’ experience. Despite problems around route disputes, vehicle maintenance, poor driving and even violence, Moosajee sees the industry as a formidable one.
“They’ve grown themselves in the absence of subsidies. We want to take the industry a step further.” Although taxis are not the optimal mode for mass transit, they have fulfilled this role in the absence of strong alternatives. “They understand pubic transport provision [and] have their own sense of expertise,” she says.
Moosajee’s team wants to ensure that Rea Vaya is a real answer to a fragmented and incomplete transport picture.
“We’re looking at routing that best serves the needs of communities, so that buses run via public hospitals, universities, that kind of thing. We’re trying to make sure the spine is concentrated on services to the community. We spent a year modelling where people travel from and to. Different groups of people have different requirements. A mother who has to go grocery shopping and pick up kids from school will have different needs from a business person who just has to make one trip to the office.”
Development planning goes along with this and the city is encouraging higher-density residential development close to bus stations.
“It’s public transport speaking to other land uses,” she says, including “pedestrianisation” and possible cycling initiatives. Edith Cavell Street in Hillbrow, for example, could be used exclusively for buses, with cars excluded. “Historically, we’ve planned roads for cars only. But cities are about people and the movement of people.”