Gauteng aims to become a globally competitive city region by re-fashioning its transport system to provide for speedier movement of people, goods and services.
The province’s 25-year Integrated Transport Master Plan (ITMP25) offers a radical paradigm shift in spatial and transport planning. It serves as a point of departure from apartheid spatial planning, land use and mobility patterns, and ushers in an innovative way of structuring our future development.
Based on economic and demographic forecasts linked to in-migration patterns, the plan sets out a strategic transport framework aimed at changing the lives of residents in Gauteng. It predicts a population of 18.6-million and a sharp increase in private car ownership to 6.6-million over 25-years, which will result in massive traffic congestion if current trends prevail. To overcome a future of traffic gridlocks, the ITMP25 sets out 10 critical interventions. The first two call for subsidised housing provision that is different from the current, single-dwelling RDP stands within urban core areas, and for land use densification in support of public transport. In other words, future human settlements should be based on multi-storey dwellings closer to where people work, and be linked to transit-oriented development.
Third, the plan proposes that the passenger rail network should serve as the backbone of the public transport system. This must be intricately linked to the bus rapid transit systems of our metropolitan cities and to road-based public transport networks.
With Gauteng being the economic hub in the country, the ITMP25 calls for the establishment of at least six freight and logistics hubs on the periphery of urban areas, linked by a rail and road network carefully designed for heavy loads. Finally, to ease congestion, the plan advocates the introduction of travel demand management measures such as congestion taxes in metropolitan cities; the mainstreaming of cycling and walking; and ensuring continued provincial-wide mobility through an extended freeway and road network.
In short, a future transport system requires that Gauteng residents adopt a shift in transport modes from motorised to non-motorised trips; private to public transport; and from road to rail. So walking and cycling must become the preferred modes for short distances; followed by rail, bus, mini-bus taxis and tuk-tuks for other trips.
In respect of the taxi industry the plan supports the drive towards corporatisation. This will allow taxi operators to receive subsidies on government contracts; improve safety and quality of service to commuters; and provide a stepping-stone for the industry to advance to “bigger business”. As residents of the smallest province geographically, we must become more conscious of our environment. We should consider using cleaner fuels and compressed natural gas or electricity to power our cars, taxis, buses and trucks. Simultaneously, we should use transport technology intelligently.
The aviation sector is an integral part of the overall transport plan. The ITMP25 calls for land to be reserved in the near future for a second inter-continental airport and for Lanseria and Wonderboom airports to service the African market.
To give some practical effect to the plan, the department of roads and transport has established the Gauteng Transport Commission to better plan and co-ordinate the transport system in association with the metropolitan and district municipalities.
Our plan is a call to action to the transport fraternity; town planners and township developers, environmentalists and academics, and the private sector and labour unions to bring a new vision to fruition.
We must transform the urban landscape, unlock our economic potential, and leverage transport as an enabler to drive socio-economic growth and development. In this way, we will serve to transform, modernise and industrialise the Gauteng economy.
Ismail Vadi is Gauteng MEC for roads and transport