Two Bits – 28 November

So, the Mr Price Pro is no more.

Earlier this year, Ballito and surfing were the best thing since sliced bread, according to the marketing people. Five months later, Mr Price is ditching surfing for soccer.

Just when things seemed to be going so well. The contest had been running here for five years and the ‘festival’ side of the event, like the Coastal Bru cooking competition, attracted a good crowd.

More than 100 000 fans visited the festival, making the Mr Price Pro one of the biggest events in South Africa. It was reckoned to be one of the top seven in the country in terms of economic impact.

This puts the pro in the same league as the Dusi canoe marathon, the Midmar Mile, the Comrades marathon, the Two Ocean marathon and the Cape Epic and the Argus Cycle tour. It was a welcome event in an otherwise quiet July.

Oh well, unless another sponsor pops up, that’s the end of that!

* * *

After our article last week, warning of increased jamming of car locking systems, a reader said she had thought her automatic driveway gate was giving problems.

Instead of closing properly after she had opened it, the gate would close and then open again up to 10 times before finally closing.

“Thankfully, I never drive off without ensuring that my gate is solidly closed.

“I got the gate people out a number of times to check my motor, but nothing was found that could cause this problem.

“I then started to notice that every time this happened there was the same lady in close range watching me driving out from my house and realised she had something to do with this.

“After speaking to a private detective, I was told that she jammed my gate with either a jammer or a program that can be downloaded on her cell phone!

“She was obviously hoping that I would just drive off without noticing and then her gang could enter the property.”

So she asked us to warn everyone that criminals can not only jam your car, but they can also jam your gate!

* * *

Locals who don’t like complaining continuously – and there aren’t that many – are saying: look on the bright side, when the new roads are finished it’ll be such a pleasure to drive!

Uh oh! I have some bad news! A study from the University of Toronto says expanding highways and roads increases congestion by creating more demand.

The disheartening study used data from hundreds of metro areas in the U.S. to reach the conclusion that there is a “fundamental law of highway congestion,” which essentially says that people drive more when there are more roads to drive on – no matter how much traffic there is. As a result, increased building of highways and major urban roads is unlikely to relieve congestion of these roads.

Another study from the University of Pennsylvania looked at the correlation between expanding roads and the amount of traffic on those roads over a 10-year period and found that the amount of traffic actually went up following the addition of new roads.

The prevailing theory regarding this strange phenomenon is that when it’s easier to travel, people travel more.

Of course, the reverse is also true.

If you eliminate lanes of traffic or side streets, traffic will adjust to become no better or worse than it was before.

They’ve tried it in notoriously congested cities like Paris and San Francisco.

Studies are now suggesting that the trick isn’t to make roads more available but to make them a privilege to use.

Some cities, like London, are doing just that by charging a fee to use their roads, and it’s working.

People will combine trips, turn to mass transit, or choose different modes of transportation, like biking or walking, if they have to pay to use the roads.

So, do you think it’ll work to charge to drive a car around Ballito?

The municipality plans to introduce a new programme to cut traffic and stop all the complaining.

The Car-use Restraint Activation Policy will be effective from December 1 and applies as follows:

Only vehicles with number plates ending in an odd number will be allowed in Ballito on Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s, and only cars with number plates ending in an even number on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

This was tried in Singapore, reduced traffic by 50% and forced people to car pool and/or use public transport.

Of course there is no public transport in Ballito but never mind, because this won’t apply to taxis or bicycles. So you can walk, ride or take a taxi if you can’t drive your car on that day.

Like the water restrictions, anyone caught driving a car with the ‘wrong’ plate for the day will receive a R3000 spot fine.

All proceeds from the fines will go towards paying for the next round of road improvements, which will probably be the Salt Rock offramp and Tiffany’s / Foxhill intersection.

Residents who would like to complain about the new system should speak to a traffic officer – if they can find one. Good luck!

P.S. I’m pulling your leg, okay!

* * *

Back in my day, we didn’t watch TV while we ate dinner. We actually talked to each other. It was awful!