More new cars, more gridlock

Improved public transport is vital

THE scale of Cape Town’s transport crisis is reflected in the rising tally of annual new vehicle registrations – just over 53 000 last year, and no fewer than 6 832 over the Christmas/ New Year period alone.

This emerges from a statement by Nceba Hinana, chairperson of the Western Cape’s standing committee on transport and public works.

“This clearly points to why our roads continue to be congested. The amount of traffic in and around Cape Town and other towns in the Province is unbearable as it has now reached a stage where road users have to endure bumperto-bumper traffic on frequently used roads, even out of peakhour periods,” he said.

Hinana noted that the number of households in the province were expected rise from 1.9 million to an estimated 2.1 million by the end of the year, and that “the pressure to find and make use of alternative means of transport will become even more pressing”.

He said: “The 53 148 new vehicle registrations over the last year on the Western Cape’s roads stresses the need for more residents to use public transport, so that the continued congestion can be prevented. Electronic National Traffic Information System statistics indicate that the number of licensed vehicles in the province increased from 1 877 445 at the end of January 2016 to 1 930 597 by January 31 this year.”

It was “becoming increasingly important” that people “use alternative measures” to travel, including car-pooling, using public transport such as MyCiti, Golden Arrow, and Metrorail.

Hinana’s comments underscore the warning at an African Union of Public Trans- port ( AUPT) conference in the city in 2015 that Africa’s fast- growing cities “will be in constant gridlock within a decade unless we succeed in doubling the market share of public transport in each country by 2025”.

AUPT president Jack van der Merwe said: “Cities that cannot make this shift will not survive in future. Public transport is for everyone and it must become the public mode of choice by being efficient and integrated.”

PICTURE: DAVID RITCHIE Traffic is increasingly congested as new vehicle registrations grow.

PICTURE: PHANDO JIKELO Using buses helps alleviate gridlock.

PICTURE: BHEKIKHAYA MABASO The use of transport provided by Metrorail should be an alternate means of travel, without having to use busy roads.