What became of plan?

DEAR SIR — Two items of news over the past weekend offer contrasting views on the adequacy of the Gauteng public transport system.

The first appeared in Business Day’s sister newspaper, the Sunday Times, in its Business Times section (reproduced on the Business Day Live website). It carried a glowing account of the success of the Gautrain. Gautrain CEO Jack van der Merwe was quoted as saying that growth was exceeding his wildest expectations. “Ridership is now close to 50,000 people a day. That means, with an average of 1.1 people per car in SA, we are seeing almost 50,000 less cars on the roads every day.”

At the same time, satnav company Tom Tom issued the results of its 2012 congestion index survey of traffic delays in peak hours. It found that Johannesburg was the most congested city in SA. Metro police spokesman Chief Supt Wayne Minnaar was reported as agreeing with the survey because over 800,000 vehicles came into the city every day. According to these reports, Mr Minnaar said the N1 between Johannesburg and Pretoria was one of the most congested roads, although the Gautrain had “alleviated it a bit”.

Both assessments are correct. Gautrain has provided a quality option, though at a huge cost in capital investment. But it is only one segment of a much larger picture. Gauteng is a city region. What is needed is an integrated public transport system linking all parts of the province.

Luckily, that is on the cards in the form of the five-year Gauteng Transport Implementation Plan.

When he announced this in May 2011, transport MEC Ismail Vadi told Business Day he had formed a steering committee and told them: “By January 2012 they must give this department a plan that we can operationalise immediately, to change and improve our public transport system.”

The plan was eventually delivered in October 2012, nine months behind schedule. Despite Mr Vadi’s intention that it should be one which could be “operationalised immediately”, there has since been a deafening silence. Apart from an announcement by the MEC that a taxi summit was being planned for May, nothing appears to have been made public.

If Gauteng is to alleviate traffic congestion more than merely “a bit”, to use Mr Minnaar’s description, it will need a comprehensive, integrated public transport system. It would be encouraging if we were to see rather faster progress on implementation of the fiveyear plan.