Gauteng and the City of Johannesburg, together with EcoMobility, are putting the province and the city on a trajectory to make public transport part of people’s lifestyle.
Since the commencement of the City of Johannesburg’s month-long EcoMobility Festival, which coincided with October Transport Month, the Gautrain has shown a substantial passenger increase of 7.7% on its train passenger trips.
On the first day of the festival the Gautrain recorded its highest Monday passenger trip count, with 60 120 passengers using the service on the day compared to the 55 800 average Monday passenger trips.
The bus service increased by 512 passenger trips, with 21 076 passengers using the bus service on the day, of which 2 934 were non-train users.
The recent increase in the utilisation of the Gautrain shows that commuters are making a conscious shift from private car use to public transport, and that they believe public transport is safe, reliable, accessible and affordable.
According to Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Dr Ismail Vadi the goal is to make public transport more accessible, convenient and integrated.
“The EcoMobility Festival is proving that public transport is accessible and affordable and the recent increase of passenger numbers on the Gautrain system shows that public transport is the mode of choice” says Vadi.
In support of the EcoMobility Festival, Gautrain made the following adjustments to its services:
Additional eight-car train trips to depart from Hatfield at 5:56am and 7:26am on weekdays;
The weekday afternoon peak period (north and east-bound) has been extended and will commence approximately from 2:40pm (previously 3:30pm);
Over weekends the trains will operate at 20-minute service intervals from 9am to 6pm. This means that three as opposed to two trains will operate each hour in each direction.
Furthermore, additional express bus services over and above the current Gautrain bus services will be introduced to service certain park-and-ride sites:
At Montecasino an additional 16 to 20 express bus service departures are planned in the peak periods. Prepaid tickets for the Gautrain bus service are available inside Montecasino at the Sins outlet during the following times: Mondays 9am to 10pm, Tuesday to Thursday 9am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday 9am to midnight, and Sunday 10am to 10pm;
At Brightwater Commons an additional 10 to 12 express bus service departures are planned in the peak periods. Prepaid tickets for the Gautrain bus services are available at the Caltex Waterfront garage, which is open 24/7;
Normal Gautrain bus services at 20-minute intervals will be running from Emperor’s Palace; normal Gautrain bus services at 20-minute intervals will be running from Melrose Arch; and in Sandton, the existing Gautrain bus routes will be marginally impacted to operate on the EcoMobility public transport loop.
“These adjustments have proven that there is a need for public transport in our cities and that Gauteng is indeed moving the city region forward,” says Vadi.
Reducing congestion, increasing reliability
The Gautrain is able to promote a better quality of life in the following ways:
– Reduced road congestion — 21 300 fewer car trips a day result in a reduction of accidents;
– Time saving for commuters and increased productivity levels of 10 to 12 working days a year;
– A greener transport alternative, especially compared to car transport, reducing the carbon footprint by 52% per trip;
– A more reliable transport mode, producing more than 99% service availability and consistently outperforming its benchmark.
Ticketing method upgrades for passengers
Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Dr Ismail Vadi has announced enhancements to the Gautrain’s ticketing system.
“Gautrain will be enhancing the current automatic fare collection system, with the key focus on interoperability and regulatory compliance,” says Vadi.
The Gautrain ticketing system will be upgraded to comply with national interoperable ticketing regulations and simultaneously offer additional functionalities.
“Once the upgrading has been completed Gautrain passengers with a contactless Gold Card will have the choice of topping up their cards online or with a smart phone,” says Vadi.
Furthermore, users will also be able to access the Gautrain services with their local or international bank-issued contactless credit and debit cards that are compliant with Europay/MasterCard and Visa standards.
The upgrade will cover the entire Gautrain network, including train stations, buses and parking. With the proposed upgrades most of the recently implemented Bus Rapid Transit ticketing systems in Gauteng will also be accepted by Gautrain services.
Gautrain undertook an open and fair tender process for the implementation of this upgrade and the contract has been awarded to Thales South Africa Systems.
The additional functionalities will be implemented in phases and should be fully operational in 2017. The project will be rolled out progressively, starting with a pilot on the East-West link between OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton. Thereafter, a full system implementation will take place. The execution of the project will be done after-hours to avoid ticketing service disruptions.
“This is a major benefit for visitors who will save terminal time when using the Gautrain to and from OR Tambo International Airport. The planned enhancements will significantly improve passengers’ experience and their access to the Gautrain services, which will support passenger growth,” says Vadi.
“The main objective of the ticketing upgrade is to facilitate the implementation of the province’s integrated fare systems, whereby public transport users will be able to use one smartcard to access different modes of public transport.
“Our goal is to make public transport more accessible, convenient and integrated. Gautrain’s ticketing enhancement will provide momentum towards achieving the objective of One Province — One Ticket,” concludes Vadi.
Economic impact exceeds expectation
When Gauteng embarked on the Gautrain project to implement a state-of-the-art rapid rail network, the goal was not only to upgrade public transport, but to also improve the economy of the province and the quality of life of the people of Gauteng.
During the implementation of the project, socioeconomic development goals were measured and monitored on a monthly basis, but the true economic impact of the project could only be appreciated when the project was completed.
The economic impact of the Gautrain has been assessed and the results are better than imagined. The results show that the Gautrain created 34 800 direct job opportunities during construction and 922 sustainable jobs after the start of operations.
The Gautrain has also re-activated property development in many areas around its stations and has contributed to the goals of transit-oriented development, better land use and the redress of apartheid’s special development planning.
Already the landscape along the Gautrain route has changed; high-density developments have sprung up and property values near Gautrain stations have appreciated substantially as high-end corporates compete for space in new office buildings close to the stations.
Property values near the Gautrain stations have grown by 3% relative to surrounding areas, while the rental rates in places like Rosebank have in some cases experienced a 100% appreciation.
The Gautrain project has shown that a well planned project does not only create value during construction and implementation but can continue to improve the quality of the lives of people through saving time and a reduction in emissions, thus contributing to a greener Gauteng.
The Gautrain has not only contributed to the economy of the province, but continues to improve the image of public transport in Gauteng and beyond.