IPTS funding the hot question

Some years ago I attended a presentation by then head of the Nelson Mandela Bay bus system Mhleli Tshamase on the scale and vision for the city’s public transport network.

At the time, this newspaper had been closely following the investigations into various individuals, including Tshamase, who were accused of colluding to loot millions of rand meant to run the buses.

At his office boardroom in South End, Tshamase unpacked how the city’s Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS) was to overhaul our entire public transport operation, to liken it to many parts of the modern world.

In complex detail, he outlined how in years to come every corner of the metro would somehow be connected to either the main bus lines or the feeder service designed to pick up commuters pretty much from their doorsteps.

The system was to be rolled out through various stages – the Summerstrand route, New Brighton, Clearly Park, Uitenhage and so on.

Much to the content of the taxi bosses in the room, Tshamase emphasised how the IPTS would place them at the centre of its operations and how its functionality was dependent on their cooperation with the metro.

Most welcome was that it would cost a fraction of what a taxi would otherwise cost you.

Indeed, it was impressive as it was ambitious.

Clear from the presentation, though, was that the system was unlikely to be profitable, but this was not the point.

Still, the question remained: how would its operations be financed sustainably, beyond the infrastructure construction and some initial Treasury grant injections?

Nonetheless, much of what was presented by Tshamase, as you know, did not happen.

Chief among the reasons was that chunks of the money meant to operate the system were, well, stolen.

Through various elaborate schemes, millions of rand were siphoned off to finance the lifestyles of some unsavoury characters in this city.

The grand looting of this system is well documented, but it is not my point today.

As things stand, it appears that even at its current smaller scale, the question of how to fund the IPTS has come back to haunt us.

Last week it emerged that the cost of operating the Cleary Park-CBD route, the only functioning corridor so far, was six times the revenue generated through ticket sales.

About R4-million pays the monthly salaries of the bus drivers, conductors and security personnel, as well as taxi owners compensated for having pulled their vehicles from the route.

This excludes costs such as fuel, maintenance and other vehicles used as feeders.

This means without the annual grant injections from national government, the metro would be unable to financially run the system in its present form.

The question then is whether the national government can continue to pour in bucket loads of cash to keep it afloat.

Last month, Transport Minister Blade Nzimande announced that the government would review its subsidies to public transport systems throughout the country, for rail and buses alike.

What this means for us is unclear so far.

However, it introduces the possibility that the national government may not be the gift that keeps on giving for much longer. At least not in the way it does currently.

In that case, what happens then?

This week the metro’s political head of transport, Marlon Daniels, said if the buses did not pick up passenger numbers, the metro might have to consider closing down the bus system altogether.

To mitigate this, some 1 000 young people have been recruited to market it in the northern areas.

Still, Daniels’s comments hardly inspire confidence.

He lamented that he had inherited a system that was in a shambles, saying if things did not improve, the city would have to close it down.

His sentiments echoed a familiar public narrative which advocates for the metro to cut its losses with the IPTS and call it a day.

But here’s the thing – the difference between Daniels and Joe Soap from Lorraine is the burden of leadership.

While everyone else gets to moan about it, it is the leader’s responsibility to fix it.

Daniels has only two options, to make the IPTS work or to find an alternative for what is a very real and urgent need for a safe, reliable and affordable public transport system in this city.

The impact of our historic public transport system on our roads, household income and our economy is enormous.

It reinforces patterns of inequality which make it harder for those in need to access economic opportunities.

Whatever the metro decides in due course must of course consider our difficult financial realities. But equally so, it must respond to its mandate to develop a system that works for the majority of citizens who need it most.