Is it govt’s duty to offer transport?

EXPERT: WALKING, CYCLING SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED

Better to move people closer to opportunities, says transport professor.

If you do not have a car, your transport choices are being narrowed down constantly. The bus services Greyhound and Citiliner are closing down on Sunday. Putco is retrenching workers. The suburban train system is in disarray and disrepair.

Will minibus taxis remain the only option?

In South Africa, there is longdistance public transport, such as Citiliner, while bus services such as Greyhound and Intercape are mainly privately owned and operated for-profit transport that are not subsidised by government.

Urban public transport such as Putco and Golden Arrow are privately owned and operated and receive a per kilometre subsidy from government, says Stephan Krygsman, associate professor of transport economics at the University of Stellenbosch.

But is public transport the duty of the state?

Krygsman says transport is not a right but that access to opportunities is a right. “Government is responsible for providing access to opportunities, either by locating people close to employment opportunities, or providing transport options to get to work and other opportunities.”

If transport is a right, he says, government will provide something with no inherent value, as transport is a cost, while participating in other activities has a benefit. “We want to minimise transport. Seeing it as a right can bring about a lot of other negative developments.”

Krygsman believes it will be better to achieve access by moving people closer to opportunities, rather than providing transport over long distances.

Public transport is also not the only option. Government can promote nonmotorised transport, such as walking and cycling, but this will require higher density cities, mixing of land uses, better designed cities and a high diversity of opportunities.

Krygsman believes government should prioritise and provide a reliable, viable, efficient and safe rail-based public transport option.

“Rail is the cheapest mode of transport, followed by busses... Minibus taxis also have a place but the focus should primarily be on rail and, secondly, on busses where demand for rail is insufficient. –