The public transport sector is changing dramatically

The face of public transport in South African cities is in the process of changing dramatically and the momentum is about to pick up dramatically.

The first decade of this century is set to become known in history as the one during which public transport infrastructure in the country took a major step upwards.

It is likely also to be regarded as one of the most important lasting legacies of hosting the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup tournament in the country.

The process is playing itself out on just about every facet and sub-sector of the public transport industry – from dramatic facelifts of all major and even lesser airports, rapid rail systems, multibillion-rand upgrades of city road infrastructure, the quality of the private minibus network, and the upgrading and expansion of public bus transport.

After many months of bitter dispute and protest action by minibus taxi operators – which caused widespread disruption of peak traffic in most of South Africa’s major cities – one of the last blocks of this picture fell into place when the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system finally received the go-ahead from all major transport stakeholders.

In early June, Deputy Minister of Transport Jeremy Cronin announced that the BRT system would now go ahead.

“The city-led processes around the first phases of BRT... must continue. What we are trying to do today is not to again prolong the process, but provide a green light to proceed energetically,” he said at Gallagher Estate, Midrand after a meeting between Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, senior transport officials and taxi bosses.

In the interim the Gautrain project, by far the largest of is kind on the African continent, is also running according to schedule and the phase is about to go operational within the next 12 months.

In fact, the twin-track railway lines from south of Dale Road in Midrand, past the Gautrain Depot to behind Linbro Park are complete and operational. This section of the route – which is approximately seven kilometres long – is being used as the ‘test track’ where all trains are running and will be tested dynamically.

Construction on the Gautrain project started at the end of September 2006 and is being completed in two phases.

The first phase has a duration of 45 months, and will link OR Tambo International Airport with Sandton.

Although the more than R25-billion Gautrain project was launched independent of the hosting of the World Cup and never formed part of the planning for the tournament, the first phase could possibly be completed in time for the start of the tournament.

It includes the network between OR Tambo airport and Sandton and includes the stations at OR Tambo, Rhodesfield, Marlboro and Sandton, together with the Depot and Operations Control Centre located near Allandale Road in Midrand.

Gautrain spokesperson Barbara Jensen said recently that it would soon become clear if this phase could be ready in time for the tournament. Should it appear that phase one cannot be completed in time at the current tempo, it would be necessary to determine whether construction could be accelerated in any way to ensure timely completion.

“If the associated costs are not exorbitant, Gautrain could ask the government for further financial assistance to secure the project’s completion,” she said.

The second phase, being constructed concurrently, will be completed in 54 months, towards 2011. It includes the remainder of the rail network and stations linking Sandton to Park Station in Johannesburg, and the route from Midrand to Hatfield.

The huge scale and positive impact the Gautrain project has on the economy in general and the construction industry in particular, is well illustrated by the fact that a special temporary concrete precast yard was put in place to cope with the needs of the project.

The precast yard is equipped to manufacture a variety of precast concrete elements needed for the various elements of the project and the accompanying infrastructure.

These include viaduct segments, bridge beams and parapets, tunnel walkway sections and noise barriers.

From the yard, precast elements are transported to the various construction sites as needed. Until the start of decommissioning of parts of this facility at the end of May this year, this has been the largest precasting facility in Africa.

Production of precast components for the various Gautrain structures is well advanced. The last of approximately 3 200 viaduct segments was cast at the end of May 2009.

This section of the production line is presently being dismantled to allow for the construction of a bus depot, which will be located on the area currently occupied by the precast yard.

Production of the remaining precast components, including M-beams for bridges, will be completed by the end of September this year.



BRT off hold

Two days before the 22 April election, Jacob Zuma backed a proposal to put the implementation of the BRT system on hold until after the polls, when further negotiations could continue. The next round of negotiations culminated in the talks at Gallagher Estate.

After months of standoff between the government and local authorities on the one hand and the taxi industry on the other, the meeting reopened talks over the bus system and other industry concerns.

“In particular the City of Johannesburg is sitting on a very tight deadline in terms of financial commitments and obligations, and therefore it is absolutely important that we get the first phase up and running by the end of August,” Cronin said.

After the 11 June talks, the government reiterated its commitment to the system, saying that its introduction in four cities – Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria – was the first phase.

This, however, is not the end of the road for this new dispensation in public transport.

By 2025, the BRT system was expected to cover 1 400km across the country should the trial run, the current phase, proceed successfully.

Minister Ndebele estimated that by 2012, a mere 5% of the national taxi fleet would be affected by the BRT system in the four cities concerned, according to a speech he delivered to taxi bosses behind closed doors.

According to Cronin: “[BRT] will offer good jobs to those who currently have terrible jobs. Frankly, we believe that it will offer job security and also business sustainability to current operators who will become shareholders, managers in bus-operating companies.”

The system raised the ire of taxi bosses, who felt it threatened their livelihood. The industry also expressed concerns that the government had asked it to register its routes and then proceeded to place the new bus system on those same routes without consulting it.



Going forward

Cronin said there was a need for a national joint working group on public transport, made up of government and industry representatives, as more matters needed to be thrashed out.

“We need to discuss a whole range of other things; taxi recapitalisation, legislation that affects them, dysfunctionality, operation licensing, broad-based black economic empowerment.”

Ndebele said the team would work together over the next 12 months in a bid to dispel the industry’s concerns.

Negotiations on the BRT system would take place mainly at local level, focusing on the taxi workers affected by the system.

He warned the taxi industry, which was plagued by disunity, to be “serious” about the talks. “We must ensure that they report back so that we cannot denounce them,” he told the gathered industry members.

He further told them to “formalise and confirm” those who would represent them in talks “as a matter of urgency”.

The minister also urged the industry to move away from the margins of the economy. “The taxi industry must become part of the mainstream of our economy and ensure the empowerment of our people.”

The sector responded cautiously to the government’s overtures. South African National Taxi Council president Andrew Mthembu said the taxi business was birthed without any government input.

“This is our bread and butter issue, we started this business a long time ago, we created routes, we developed business, we are contributing toward the country... the statement on its own that says ‘don’t worry, be happy’ is not good enough; we want to know how,” he said.

The industry agreed to “engage meaningfully” with the government, he added.

Mthembu assured South Africans there would be no disruptions of the Confederations Cup or the 2010 World Cup.

Disruptions were threatened when the taxi industry’s anger over the BRT system peaked earlier this year.

“I just want to place it on record so that you are rest assured. We are South Africans and we will never see another opportunity... to host another 2010. It’s something you can’t miss, so the ransom of the 2010, it will never be on the agenda,” he said.

The government conceded that very little progress had been made in improving public transport in the last 15 years. It intended having South Africans choose public transport over their own vehicles.



Individual cities

The extent to which the transport needs of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup tournament are also affecting efforts by individual local authorities, was well illustrated by a recent statement by Tshwane’s executive mayor, Gwen Ramokgopa.

Over R600 million is being spent in Tshwane on infrastructure upgrades for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Besides the fact that Loftus Versfeld is being upgraded to the tune of R131m, about 100 new buses were also expected to be running on dedicated routes for the Confederations Cup, said Ramokgopa in a statement.

A further 20 buses were committed to park-and-ride services at LC de Villiers sports grounds, with 10 other for similar facilities from the Pretoria Sports Union.

Other buses were to be deployed to provide transportation to Menlyn Park and the Colonnade shopping centres, the Centurion business district, Pretoria main station and various townships.

In Cape Town, the most visual impact of the upcoming tournament, besides the Green Point Stadium with its impressive glass roof, is the advanced stages of construction on huge new flyovers at the entries to the central business district (CBD) from the northern suburbs and from the Cape Town International Airport and southern suburbs.

In Durban, the development of the R6-billion King Shaka International Airport, and the Dube Trade Port linked to it, will be a vital economic catalyst for KwaZulu-Natal and will create 262 000 jobs, according to a recently released international report on the impact of aviation globally.

Taxi recapitalisation

The one component of the transport industry where progress does not seem to live up to expectations, is the minibus taxi industry’s recapitalisation programme.

The industry remains divided on the three-year-old programme aimed at transforming the country’s informal public transport system.

According to a recent report in the Sowetan, the National Taxi Alliance (NTA) – which opposed the programme from its inception – insists that the government’s initiative has failed. But the South African National Taxi Council, which welcomed the plan, says the industry has benefited despite the problems.

Transport spokesperson Sam Monareng was quoted as saying that more than 20 000 unroadworthy minibus taxis had been scrapped at a cost of R1.123bn between October 2006 and March this year.

“We are optimistic that the programme will succeed and will be completed, though we had to extend the deadline to allow more people to bring in their taxis,” he said.

He claimed that nearly R200m had been spent on the programme in the Eastern Cape, about R182m in Limpopo, R170m in Gauteng, close to R167m in North West, R120m in the Free State, about the same amount in KwaZulu-Natal, almost R98m in Mpumalanga, about R52m in the Western Cape and close to R19m in the Northern Cape.

Monareng said that a further R630m has been allocated to the programme for the present financial year.

Some claims, however, have it that currently 80% of the 100 000 taxis to be scrapped are still on the road.