Taxi violence may soon be snuffed out through technology, if a pilot project next month to monitor vehicles by satellite to eradicate pirate operators succeeds, the Cape Times reported on its website on Thursday.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) announced the Electronic Fare Collection and Management System (EMS) will first be rolled out on a single route between Pretoria and Johannesburg.
It will be followed by a mass roll-out to all provinces next year, with planned completion in late 2009.
”The EMS was developed in South Africa by SurePaw Technologies in close cooperation with Santaco and according to the requirements specified by the national Department of Transport.
”It will revolutionise the operation of the taxi industry and taxi travel, bringing numerous benefits to the commuters as well as to the taxi owners and drivers,” said Santaco.
According to Santaco, the EMS will continuously monitor a vehicle’s position along its licensed route.
”During the fare-collection shift, deviations from the licensed route will be automatically reported. Fare collection outside the licensed route will be prevented. This will help to enforce licensing rules and thus address the main cause of taxi violence.”
Transport authorities and taxi associations have attributed the high levels of taxi violence to associations that encroach on routes on which they are not licensed to operate. This leads to tensions between rival associations.
At least seven taxi drivers have been killed in Cape Town in the past month as a result of rivalry between the Congress of Democratic Taxi Associations and the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association. — Sapa