1. It is inconsistent to devote attention to the subsidisation of road-based public transport while rail transport receives comparatively little attention. Complicated equations relating to route length, number of passengers etc. should either be applied to all modes, or not be applied at all.
2. It is inconsistent to refer to the difficulty in obtaining subsidy for road-based public transport when nothing is said about the sources of funding for the losses that will be incurred by the proposed high-speed rail service between Johannesburg and Pretoria. These annual losses can be expected to amount to about R500 million. The figure is about two thirds of the existing subsidy of R750 million to bus and rail services in the COJ (para 6.2.5.4) and will therefore add about 66% to the subsidy requirements in the area.

1. Midrand is about 40 km south of the Pretoria public transport area and, if a 40 km limit on subsidised road-based public transport is to apply, then the two areas – Johannesburg and Pretoria can be combined for subsidy purposes. In other words, subsidised road-based through-routes should be arranged between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

1. The ITP makes no mention of through-routes between COJ and the Ekhurleni area. The shortcoming needs to be addressed, since massive traffic congestion occurs on the N3 (which runs through Ekhurleni) and adjoining roads. In this regard, the proposed high-speed line between Johannesburg International Airport and Sandton is also an inappropriate "solution". An all-stops light rail route running on the surface will be far more suitable for the needs of the area. It can serve intermediate functions, as well as make connections with north-south "flagship" surface routes which are urgently needed in the area.

2. THE NEED FOR A TRANSPORT AUTHORITY

1. In view of the large amount of work that must be done to set up a network of formal public transport services, an urgent approach is needed to create a transport authority (TA) with the necessary powers. Therefore it is inappropriate to still debate the issue to determine whether to establish a TA or not (page 259). A Ta should be set up immediately.

 

 

 

3. INTEGRATION BETWEEN ROAD AND RAIL

1. An important requirement of a road-based public transport system is that it should feed into and away from the rail services. As such, road-based public transport should start operating earlier in the day and finish later in the day than the rail services do. This is the policy adopted by London Buses, which operates a comprehensive all-night bus service. This allows trains to start later and finish earlier, which in turn means that more time is available to carry out essential maintenance on the rail network.
2. At present the opposite is true in the COJ and other cities in South Africa where trains operate ± 20 hours out of 24 while some buses run no more than 14 hours out of 24 and most buses far less than this.
3. As a result, formal public transport in South Africa (not only in the COJ) faces the ironic situation that many buses tend to be quite new (less than 3 years old) yet only operate one trip in the morning and a return trip in the afternoon (and nothing at weekends) while ageing railway equipment is "hammered" for 20 hours out of 24, every day.

1. subsidy policy,
2. "targeting" of subsidies to needy groups,
3. whether one route cross-subsidises another or not.

3. The existing rail fare structure based on the third class rail fare should simply be extended across the entire formal network in every city in South Africa where rail forms part of the network. This is a level that most public transport users should be able to afford. If rich people wish to take advantage of subsidised public transport, so be it. If this leads to fewer cars on the road (one of the objectives of transport policy) then a blanket subsidy policy can be regarded as successful.

• The National Land Transport Transition Act places strong emphasis on the need to co-ordinate, integrate and rationalise public transport. (Sections 3, 4 and 19).

• The NLTTA requires a number of plans to be drawn up, including a "rationalisation plan" for every urban area.

• Although a number of cities (e.g. Durban, Johannesburg) have recently produced Integrated Transport Plans, they do not give enough detail for policy implementation.

• The principles on which such a plan should be based have also not been spelled out in sufficient detail in official documents.

• They include the following:

• Most journeys on public transport should not take more than three times longer than the same journey by car.

• ± 80% of the population should live within ± 800 metres of a formal public transport route.

• Services on these routes should not be of restricted to one or two trips during the peak period only. They should operate at least once per hour during the off-peak as well as over weekends.

• Direct connections between major activity centres should be provided.

• The Johannesburg area is currently inadequately served by formal public transport.

• The main purpose of this improvement plan is to create an awareness of public transport among the car-using community in the area. (It is not intended to compete with the informal taxi industry.) The initial level of service envisaged does not offer much additional capacity in any event.

• This plan will also play a strong role in facilitating the success of the proposed high-speed line between Pretoria and Johannesburg.

The proposed plan includes the following features:

• A number of "main activity centres" (MACs) in the region have been identified. They serve as the origin and destination points for many bus routes. They are mainly shopping centres (or shopping districts).

• They include, but are not confined to –

• A guiding principle is that the rail and bus modes should be integrated. Although very few rail stations are at present suitable as transfer points, a number of stations have nevertheless been identified. They are listed separately below.

• Most "main activity centres" are directly linked by a bus route to the Johannesburg CBD, as well as to their adjacent MACs.

• There are about 95 routes in all. Most commence operations between 05:00 and 06:00 and stop at around 18:00 to 19:00. Some routes, particularly the Soweto routes, start earlier and finish later.

• Most routes have some off-peak service, consisting of at least one service every hour (in some cases two hours). Most routes should also operate, on a reduced basis over weekends.

• Where possible, departure times and arrival times at the MACs should be arranged to allow passengers to transfer from one route to another.

• Most routes are over 25 km long. This improves their "marketability" among local communities along their path, even though few people will use them to travel the full distance. Most routes also cross, or touch, at least 10 other routes along the way, or at destinations.

• The plan does not specifically cater for scholars. The Witwatersrand region has about 900 primary schools, 450 secondary schools, 100 colleges/technikons/universities and 60 "special" schools. A specific policy is required for scholar transport to replace the present ad-hoc situation.

Although the shortfall of R530 million is more than the current subsidy of about R300 million to bus operators in the area (R750 million if rail is included), the proposed network represents a vast increase in mobility for the community, and provides a platform for future improvements in public transport.

Further scenarios have been developed, indicating the costs that can be expected if higher levels of service are offered on this network, particularly in respect of better off-peak frequencies. These scenarios should be fully investigated, as they offer opportunities for the informal sector to obtain contracts as part of the formal network, using re-capitalised midi-buses. It is strongly recommended that the maximum "wait" for transport on the network be not more than 15 minutes on busy routes and not more than 20 minutes on less busy routes.

• Up to now the tendering and contracting system for bus operations has been confined to isolated rural-type routes with only a few trips each day.

• In these circumstances the drawing up of timetables, the scheduling of drivers, the forecasting of passenger levels, route selection and fare policy have been relatively simple matters that have largely been dealt with by the operators in conjunction with Government.

• The introduction of the tendering system into the larger urban areas presents a more complex picture. Routes should now "feed into" each other, timetables need to be drafted with due regard for transferring passengers, fare policy must be applied on a blanket basis, with through-ticketing an essential requirement, etc.

• These matters cannot be determined on an ad-hoc route-by-route basis but must be co-ordinated by a central body.

• In drawing up appropriate routes and schedules for such a system, more flexibility is required in certain respects. For example –

• Two different companies (and possibly even more) can operate the same route.

• Different sizes of bus (even minibuses) can be used to operate different trips on the same route.

• Although buses should stay on the same route as far as possible, in certain circumstances they could be deployed on other routes where required.

• An example of this is the present situation where about 150 buses from Soweto terminate in the Randburg/Sandton area each day from 06:45 onwards. They remain there until 15:00 – 18:00 before returning to Soweto. New bus routes can be introduced in the Sandton area, using these buses. Very few additional buses will be required.

The plan also includes a proposal for a balanced Metrorail timetable for the Witwatersrand area. Since the rail network is often considered to be the "spine" of the formal public transport system, it is important that its services are offered on a consistent pattern, so that supporting road-based public transport services can be built around the rail network.

The proposed timetable is suitable for Sundays, and consists of a basic hourly frequency on most lines, with "clock-face" timings. Where possible, timings have been arranged to allow reasonably convenient transfer at places like Germiston, Johannesburg, Kaalfontein (for Leralla) and Dunswart (for Daveyton). The Saturday and Monday to Friday schedules will obviously be better, in terms of frequencies and also earlier starting and later finishing times. As stated in a previous paragraph, the maximum "wait" on busy routes (this would apply to rail) should be a maximum of 15 minutes.

It is essential that steps be taken to reposition the existing rail commuter service in Gauteng as part of a general programme to raise the awareness of public transport in the Johannesburg area, and in preparation for the coming of the high-speed line.