Transport, and particularly the green or environmentally friendly version thereof, is currently quite under the spotlight in South Africa, particularly since October has been designated as Transport Month and the country is about to host the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change talks in Durban. And in July, South Africa hosted the Southern African Transport
Conference (SATC).

A few impressive projects have been undertaken in the private sector, such as IMPERIAL Logistics running its Woolworths client fleet of trucks to Euro 3 and 5 specifications aimed at reducing toxic emissions.

But it is really in the public transport sphere where the most impressive changes are taking place – and, here, local government is playing a leading role.

The revolutionising of South Africa’s public transport sector was given a huge boost when the country hosted the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup and the government called upon municipalities and other role-players to put in place integrated transport systems that would not only serve the soccer spectacle, but would remain as legacy projects thereafter.

Massive funding was made available, with roads and airports transformed and all forms of transport – from minibus taxis to bus and rail – being involved.

For the World Cup alone, the government invested upward of R9 billion in improving public transport infrastructure.

Earlier this year, it announced plans to spend a further R66bn to R80bn over the next few years, further improving South Africa’s transport infrastructure.

In addition, a R97-billion rail upgrade is being rolled out over the next 18 years, with R30.2bn of that to be spent on upgrading passenger rail services over the next three years.

Close to 20% of the world’s total delivered energy is used in the transportation sector, with liquid fuels being the dominant source.

The 7th Annual State of Logistics survey, published jointly by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, IMPERIAL Logistics and Stellenbosch University, found that in South Africa, the transport sector – both freight and passenger – consumes 27% of the country’s total delivered energy, 78% of its liquid fuels and 1.6% of its electricity.

Given that the transport sector worldwide contributes 23% of all energy-related carbon dioxide emissions; and given that in South Africa it is the fastest growing emitter of harmful carbon emissions, the impact of transport on the environment naturally topped the agenda at this year’s SATC held in Pretoria in July.

Deputy Minister of Transport Jeremy Cronin noted that “the transport sector’s high carbon emissions are due to South Africa’s urban sprawl and our poorly integrated and inefficient transport solutions.

“Managing travel demand and developing integrated, effective public transport systems are crucial in addressing this ongoing challenge.”

Other related factors necessitate a rethink on transport design, such as the high cost of imported petroleum products and the uncertainty around sufficient fossil fuel resources beyond 2030.

The South African National Energy Research Institute (Saneri) in Gauteng has been working closely with the Gauteng Provincial Government’s Green Transport Initiative and others, in developing cleaner transport alternatives.

One project involves a new generation of 14 energy-efficient, environmentally friendly vehicles, of which 12 are owned by the Gauteng Provincial Department of Roads and Transport. These vehicles use as fuel natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is supplied from Saneri’s Green Transport Centre in Langlaagte, Johannesburg.

South African oil and chemicals giant, Sasol, has embarked on an alternative vehicle fuel project, producing an LPG called Sasol autogas, which is sold at its LPG station in Isando, Johannesburg. A second Sasol LPG station was being planned for Randburg.

GreenCab, a Cape Town-based taxi company, has switched to using “green fuels” such as LPG and biodiesel as its contribution to reduce its carbon emissions by up to 12%. The company was chosen by the City of Cape Town to transport the 2014 World Design Capital judges around the city.

Following on from the 2010 World Cup transport upgrade, it is particularly South Africa’s metro cities that have continued improving public transport infrastructure and services to world-class standards, with a strong bias in favour of environmental concerns.

This has been guided by the national government’s National Transport Master Plan, which incorporates its Public Transport Strategy 2007–2020. The essential features of the Public Transport Strategy are integrated rapid public transport networks (IRPTNs) that incorporate rapid rail, bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, and taxi and metered taxi priority networks, particularly in the major cities.

Gautrain

In Gauteng, a key feature has been the introduction of the Gautrain which, by September last year, had already celebrated carrying one million train passengers in its first phase.

Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Ismail Vadi says the Gautrain project serves as a benchmark for the promotion of the use of public transport. The Gautrain carried about 50 000 passengers a week in Phase 1; but with the extension of its service between Pretoria and Johannesburg, it is expected to move thousands more people.

The City of Johannesburg was the first to introduce a BRT system in terms of the government’s Public Transport Strategy. The BRT programme is the road-based component of the strategy, and is designed to move large numbers of people to all parts of a city quickly and safely in dedicated bus lanes similar to railway systems.

The government says it wants to ensure that, by 2020, the majority of city dwellers in South Africa live or work within 500 metres of a BRT station.

According to Johannesburg’s environmental director Flora Mokgohloa, the city’s Rea Vaya BRT project was the single biggest investment by the South African government in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in public transport. It is estimated that the Rea Vaya BRT will reduce CO2 emissions by 382 940 tonnes by 2013 and 1.6 million tonnes by 2030.

The Rea Vaya BRT system operates 121 buses, conducting 950 trips daily and moving around 40 000 people a day.

It has not been without its problems, however, with commuters initially coming under attack from gunmen, and later being halted by striking bus drivers.

But on the green front, the service has earned recognition for its efforts to combat climate change, and was awarded a Sustainable Transport Award. Officials of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in New York have described Johannesburg’s BRT as world-class, and far better than that of New York.

Cape Town

The City of Cape Town has made good progress with implementing its Integrated Rapid Transit System. It aims to transform the local public transport sector by integrating Metrorail services, road-based services on trunk routes, conventional bus services, minibus taxi operations, feeder bus services, improved pedestrian and bicycle access, metered taxi integration, and park-and-ride facilities.

The first phase of its MyCiTi BRT system became operational this year and is currently being expanded further.

Rail, however, is still the backbone of public transport in Cape Town, with Metrorail transporting in excess of 700 000 people a day during the week. But ageing rolling stock, poor maintenance, vandalism, sabotage and cable theft have caused serious deterioration in the service. As a result, a submission to revive the ailing rail system is currently before Parliament, and the Cabinet was expected to make a decision on it by November.

The City of Cape Town has progressed far in building a network of three-metre wide dedicated cycle and pedestrian lanes closely linked to the MyCiTi BRT system. (Cyclists are allowed to take their bicycles onto MyCiTi buses.)

Other cities

Durban, in the eThekwini Metro, is another city that is turning to cycling as part of its integrated transport system, by constructing new bicycle lanes in and around the central business district as part of a plan to encourage residents to use non-motorised, environmentally friendly modes of transport. Delegates to COP 17 will be encouraged to make use hereof.

The City is basing this project on successes achieved in Brazil.

Durban, too, has successfully introduced a BRT system that is integrated with other modes of transport, and has gone out of its way to include the minibus taxi operators, for which the latter have praised the City.

Tshwane Metro has done the same, preparing to start rolling out its BRT soon, with a first route transporting commuters from Pretoria Station to Menlyn due to the suburb’s position as a nodal area in the city.

Executive Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa said the City would take into account lessons learnt from the BRT in Johannesburg.

In the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, the rolling out of an IPRTN has run into considerable problems. Its BRT system, with 25 new buses, came to a standstill earlier this year, but municipal officials were confident that the problems would be sorted out.

And not to be outdone by other cities, Buffalo City (East London) is about to undertake its biggest project ever by rolling out a BRT system worth an estimated R1.2bn, set to be completed by 2012.

The massive investment in BRT public transport systems around the country is likely to make a vast contribution in reducing CO2 emissions in South Africa.