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The Myths and Realities of BRT in South Africa
A reaction paper on the article “South Africa’s Legacy or Lost Opportunity: The 2010 World Cup and Beyond ” by Lloyd Wright.
Elitist. This aptly describes transportation in South Africa specifically in Johannesburg where I lived for more than eight months in conjunction with an employment opportunity in an international NGO. Johannesburg, the provincial capital of Gauteng, is the largest and most densely populated city in South Africa with more than three million inhabitants (more than eight million if population in satellite cities are included). The city is comparatively larger than Manila with a land area of 1,644 km2 resulting in a population density of 1962/km2.
Major roads and highways in Johannesburg are very well-built but cater towards private motorists. Public land transportation consists of mass transit (metro railway system), buses (monopolised by Metro-bus), and taxis (metered and minibus taxis). The metro railway system plies through Central Johannesburg and connects to Pretoria, Soweto and other satellite towns along Witswatersrand. During my whole stay in the city, I have passed up the opportunity to use the railways as travelling in a car is safer and more convenient. For a foreigner (and even for a local) made paranoid by constant reports and experiences of crime, the idea of getting in a rail with people who are still emotionally battling the throes of apartheid is not inviting. There is also the proposed Gautrain, a rapid rail link running from north to south, aimed in alleviating traffic in the N1 freeway, from Johannesburg to Pretoria. South Africans hope that this would be operational by 2010 for the FIFA World Cup but before I left Johannesburg, negotiations are still in the drawing board. Another option for a public commuter is the Metro-bus, with more than 500 fleet plying 84 different routes in the city. Buses fetch passengers in designated stops and follow a timetable; however, the latest bus is only until 7pm. A more reliable albeit expensive choice is the metered taxi. These taxis do not drive around looking for passengers like the ones we have here in the Philippines, rather a passenger would call a taxi company and request for one. They are often on time and most units are well-tended (no Nissan nor Kia Pride units, but Mercedes Benzes!). The minibus taxis are a misnomer, since they are neither bus nor taxis, but dilapidated vans. This is the major means of transportation for residents living in Johannesburg and nearby cities. There are designated terminals called taxi ranks in the city centre where passengers crowd during peak hours. Overcrowding is the norm and finding a friendly driver or passenger is a rarity. From my experience riding a minibus, a foreigner is a foreigner and is treated as such. An expat riding a minibus to and from work is revered for braving and surviving the daily hazards of getting into a vehicular road accident due to irresponsible driving, of being held-up, and of being caught in a literal crossfire among warring drivers.
This limited means of transportation often frustrates not only foreigners who are new to Johannesburg but also South Africans who are not financially capable of buying their own cars. Thus, the introduction of a Bus Rapid Transit and Non-Motorized Transport like bicycling and walking are very much anticipated by the public. The article South Africa’s Legacy or Lost Opportunity: The 2010 World Cup and Beyond by Lloyd Wright explores these new mode of transport in a city treading nimbly within its new found democracy. The article looks at the BRT and NMT options positively citing the ability of both to “simultaneously deliver complementary objectives” by providing a less expensive level of transit quality comparable to a metro rail system and the “professionalisation” of transport services which can “formalise” informal operators enabling them to provide higher quality of service/product.
Based on the article, opting for a BRT rather than the Gautrain will save the South African government millions of rand which, can be more effectively used to build transit systems in the city. While non-motorized options, according to the article, may be the most rapid and cost effective solution to transport people to different venues during the World Cup. The use of pedicabs, likened to the experience of Germany, for undeserved trips between local communities and the possibility of generating local employment, also sound promising. These transportation options are said to have low impact on the environment and are thus linked to sustainable transport initiatives supported by different international funding institutions like the USAID and the William J. Clinton Foundation.
The article mentioned that constructing the BRT is cheaper that opting for Gautrain, but in the long run would it serve a greater number of public commuters and is it really more cost-efficient? In an analysis presented to the US Federal Transit Administration by Edson L. Tennyson, former Deputy Secretary of Transportation of Pennsylvania and a consulting transportation engineer, he contended that LRT has greater appeal to commuters and higher actual ridership compared to bus ways. It also has an “inherent cost-efficiency” compared with bus. Tennyson further argued that taking into account the logistical needs of a BRT “the unit capital cost of bus ways has tended to be much higher than the unit capital cost of LRT. He concluded that although it is vital to come up with low-cost quality bus and improve bus services, BRTs are definitely not “cheaper rapid transit.”
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Kristinne
I am working part-time for an international organisation, CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation working towards social, civic and economic justice. CIVICUS is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. At the same time, I am finishing my master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of the Philippines. I lived in Johannesburg for almost a year and my experiences in that beautiful but scarred country, opened my eyes to a lot of realities that I used to ignore.
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