Fixing SA’s transport problems

Congestion and accidents remain the greatest challenges of the South African transport system.

This was according to the minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, at the official launch of the department’s October Transport Month (OTM) campaign for 2013.

Currently, she said, congestion problems were even worse in the capital city, as most streets are under construction to improve Pretoria’s transport system.

The launch was held at the at Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Hatfield station under the theme ‘Celebrating 20 years of the delivery of efficient, reliable and safe transport services’.

Addressing the gathering, the minister spoke about what the government had achieved in delivering integrated transport systems, road safety initiatives aimed at reducing road carnage, efficient and reliable public transport, job creation infrastructure development and improvement and skills development.

She said transport systems are vital to everyone’s way of life since they connect people to their jobs, schools, shops, friends and family.

According to Peters, congestion on the roads did not only depress motorists, but it had serious consequences for the economy and the environment.

Peters said the government had been taking a number of essential interventions to tackle problems by focusing their efforts on the worst points of the problem – urban roads, motorways, public transport and air transport.

She said the completion of the Gautrain, the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project and the launch of the Business Express trains by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) were some of the major interventions they made to ease congestion in Gauteng.

The minister expressed concern about those who still depend on untarred roads and those who have to walk long distances and face varied challenges just to access public transport.

“While we have achieved a lot in transport in many parts of the country, there are still many South Africans outside the modern transport networks,” Peters said.

It was also revealed that the department is conducting a feasibility study into options to mitigate the problems faced by commuters who live in the north-east of Tshwane.

According to the minister, these commuters travel daily by bus over long distances, with excessive travel times and at a high cost.

“Approximately 35 000 commuters are being transported in one direction in the morning by bus and in the opposite direction in the evening along the corridor,” said Peters.

These commuters spend long hours in transit, with some in extreme cases spending up to seven hours per day on buses. Metrorail trains carry about 30 000 people a day and about 256 million passengers a year.

Road safety is also a major issue along the corridor, which is clearly an unsustainable situation.

The minister said that over the next 20 years Prasa would implement a bold plan to transform and modernise passenger railways system in preparation for a modern, safe and reliable passenger service, starting in 2015 through the new rolling stock acquisition.