Civil Engineering September 2021 | Vol 29 No 8

24 September 2021 Civil Engineering PUBLIC PASSENGER TRANSPORT Insofar as this facet of our transport system is concerned, there have been many lost opportunities to develop an effective and efficient public passenger transport system over the past six decades or so. Most of these are the result of the factors described earlier in this article. Space restrictions prohibit their detailed discussion here, however, there is a need for a widespread change- orientated approach if effective, efficient and reliably safe public passenger transport in South Africa’s metropolitan areas is to meet the joint needs of the public and the fiscus. At the least some of the lost opportunities during past decades need to be re-visited and fundamental issues need to be addressed. Of particular importance is to address the element of destruc- tive competition both within the often-unruly taxi industry and between it and the other modes of transport. The problem of restructuring and supporting public transport, creating a sustainable form of public transport in the urban and rural environments, as well as removing the dominance of private vehicles needs to be addressed on several fronts. Some of the components of a fundamental restructuring endeavour could include: Q Q Encouraging or enhancing trip patterns which lead to the use of the appropriate mode of transport for demand volumes and higher operating revenues through improved vehicle fleet utilisation. This could be facilitated by encouraging public transport supportive land-use development towards greater densities and corridor development Q Q Discriminatory pricing in line with the externalities caused for low occupancy motor vehicles in CBD areas Q Q Increased powers, capacity development and funding for passenger transport authorities constituted outside of political involvement, and with the removal of provincial involvement in public passenger transport in metropolitan areas, in line with both the 1977 Urban Transport Act and the 1988 draft Passenger Transport Bill Q Q Implementation of effective and efficient rail systems such as the ‘Masstran’ concept for Johannesburg developed in the 1980s together with franchising of rail operations as proposed by the Department of Transport in 1996 Q Q Stricter but fair control of minibus taxis as part of an inte- grated public transport system Q Q Greater involvement by users in the planning of public trans- port systems Q Q An effective and efficient tendered contract approach for the provision of services by all modes of public transport, with effective monitoring Q Q Maximisation of potential for inter-route transfers and through ticketing between modes Q Q Determining ridership profiles as a contributor to network design and development Q Q Implementing the above in a phased approach. The creation of a ‘new-look’ public transport system will not be easily tackled by small-scale changes over time, but rather requires institutional re-alignment, a capacity-orientated ap- proach to regulatory control and enforcement, and significant investment, both in terms of finance and particularly competent personnel, embracing a paradigm change and a quantum leap in thinking. Do we in South Africa have the capacity as well as the will to do so? CONCLUSION Much thought and a very detailed analysis of the South African transport system went into developing the 1999 Moving South Africa twenty-year strategic framework for transport in South Africa. Unfortunately, its strategic recommendations for building a sound transport system for South Africa have generally been ignored. When will government realise the slippery path our transport system is on, and that it can only be rescued by competent and experienced professionals adopting and, more importantly, implementing sound, well thought out strategies to rescue the worsening situation?  REFERENCE Mitchell, M. & Copley, P. 2020. Reflections on transport and logistics in Africa – lost opportunities, future potential . Draft unpublished book. South Africa