No robots? No problem, says community safety department
The metro encourages daily commuters to leave and arrive at work earlier to avoid heavy peak-hour traffic.
In response to stage 5 load-shedding, the metro has appointed TMPD and FreeFlow Traffic pointsmen to help with peak congestion traffic.
With power going out for multiple hours a day, motorists are feeling the brunt of peak-hour traffic due to non-functioning traffic lights. The metro hopes this initiative will ease traffic – one of the many woes caused by rampant load-shedding.
Community safety MMC Grandi Theunissen said in a statement that the traffic assistants will be placed strategically to assist areas most impacted by traffic caused by load-shedding.
“I have asked the TMPD to identify the biggest traffic bottlenecks in all seven regions of Tshwane. Once identified, the TMPD will then be deployed to help alleviate pressure by directing traffic at highly impacted intersections,” said Theunissen.
The MMC also reminded residents that the services of the TMPD are exhausted as it is, and cannot deploy members to every single intersection in the metro during load-shedding. The metro also encouraged daily commuters to leave and arrive at work earlier to avoid heavy peak-hour traffic.
“Going forward, I will engage other stakeholders to possibly increase the number of qualified pointsmen that can help counter traffic congestion,” continued Theunissen.
Theunissen also cautioned self-appointed pointsmen to refrain from taking it upon themselves to perform the duties of qualified traffic controllers.
“While we appreciate the good intentions, self-appointed pointsmen are not authorised to direct traffic and often risk confusion and accidents,” said Theunissen.
Residents are encouraged to report any unauthorised/self-appointment pointsmen to the TMPD on 012 358 7095/7096 or 012 323 0035/0036.
Motorists can visit www.trafficfreeflow.co.za/mobile-pointsmen/ to find out in which areas pointsmen will be deployed.
“The City would like to advise motorists to treat intersections as four-way stops during this period of increased power outages for your own safety and that of other motorists,” concluded Theunissen.
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