Transport Department moots dedicated lanes for taxis and all buses.Image: File
The national Transport Department has mooted dedicated lanes on the country’s roads for taxis and all buses.
Its newly gazetted White Paper on National Transport Policy says priority lanes will be looked into with a view to mitigating travel times and drawing more people to public transport.
Only public buses under the rapid transit (BRT) system currently have dedicated lanes in various cities. The City of Joburg’s Rea Vaya started operating in 2009.
“The establishment of priority lanes on the road network for buses and taxis will be investigated to reduce travel times and encourage the use of public transport,” said the white paper.
The policy document details a range of proposals for improvement of transportation in the country. It covers all modes of transport, from rail to road.
“Particular attention will be paid to road and rail safety,” it said. “Improved safety and security is critical for achieving a shift of traffic from road to rail.
“This includes the protection of the rail system from theft and vandalism of rail assets and rail goods in transit.”
It pointed out that public transport in many rural communities was non-existent and yet there was “lack of clarity on how rural public transport projects should be funded”.
“More attention needs to be given to rural public transport. The availability and quality of public transport in rural areas is deficient,” said the white paper.
“Small-scale and subsistence farmers in many rural areas find it difficult to transport products and other commodities to and from markets and extractive industries face similar challenges.
“In accordance with the objectives of the prevailing national plan, these needs must be addressed in an accelerated manner.”
The idea of priority lanes for taxis has been a subject of various academic studies in recent years.
The Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering published a study on the topic by University of Pretoria Professor Christo Venter and Lourens de Beer in December.
Venter and De Beer found that priority infrastructure, including lanes for minibus taxis, would reduce travel time, user costs and operating costs.
The study said minibus taxi drivers already display driving behaviour that simulates priority access. This happened in the absence of necessary infrastructure “and therefore often under unsafe and illegal conditions”.
“Minibus taxi operators often try to cut corners (literally and figuratively) in their efforts to save time – this is mainly due to pressure being put on them by their passengers and their need to survive financially,” Venter and De Beer wrote.
“Formalising the driving behaviour … might, in theory, reduce the delay experienced by minibus taxi drivers and passengers, while mitigating the problems with safety and habitual flouting of traffic rules.”
Macdonald Makata, Pretoria spokesperson for the South African National Taxi Council, yesterday said the taxi industry welcomed the priority lanes suggestion.
“That is a good proposal. We’re the ones who came with it,” Makata told The Star.
“We sat down with Minister (Fikile Mbalula) and said to him it would be wise and user-friendly for the taxi industry to also have dedicated lanes seeing that they carry 55% to 70% of the population.
“We said, ‘How is it that your A Re Yeng (City of Tshwane BRT) has their lanes when they are not even going to the townships? Does this mean the government has nothing to do with the township economy?’
“He said he will sit down with the Cabinet and discuss the possibilities because this also needs town planners.”
Makata said the taxi industry hoped Mbalula would move swiftly on the suggestion. “As long as it’s still in the boardroom, we’re worried.
“I think they were supposed to already have pilot projects in various major cities in preparation to roll it out across the country,” said Makata.
@BonganiNkosi87