This year, the City is celebrating Transport Month under the banner ‘Building Resilience and Driving Transport Reform’, kicking off with an Urban Mobility Summit about burning issues that have a profound impact on commuters, be it those in private vehicles, the thousands who rely on public transport, or the people who walk or cycle to their destinations. The panel discussions will be live-streamed and I invite residents and businesses to join us online on 3 and 4 October 2023 as we map the way forward in an uncertain and volatile environment.
Given the implosion of passenger rail the City has seen a huge increase in the number of people now making use of road-based transport, be it in private vehicles, minibus-taxis or buses.
- According to the City’s latest Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan (CITP), up to 58% of commuters use private vehicles to get to their destinations; 22% use minibus-taxis; 9% bus services such as the MyCiTi and GABS; 2% use rail – a shocking decline of 95% for the period 2012 – 2022; and nearly 10% walk.
With more commuters relying on road-based transport, there is more pressure on our road network, not only in terms of maintenance needs, but also with increased congestion, and the demand for more and bigger public transport interchanges to accommodate the growing number of buses and minibus-taxis. More heavy vehicles are using roads to move freight between cities and the harbours when this cargo could and should have been transported via rail. The impact of heavy vehicles on roads is well documented.
All of these failures, on a national level, put immense strain on the City in terms of the budget and human resources needed to maintain our current road network and to provide public transport infrastructure.
- The most severe impact, however, is felt by commuters who are spending more money on travelling, and are stuck in congestion on a road network that is under severe strain because passenger rail – the most efficient and cost-effective form of public transport – has imploded due to mismanagement.
Added to the above is continuous load-shedding and its impact on our assets; vandalism, crime, and extortion that delay and interrupt capital projects.
More information about the Urban Mobility Summit:
- Is hosted in Cape Town on 3 and 4 October 2023
- Six panel discussions will take place over two days. Experts and stakeholders will address topics that are in the public interest, and of local and national concern
- The Summit programme outlines the time slots for each discussion, and the speakers. The programme is available here: https://www.capetown.gov.za/UrbanMobilitySummit
- The public can follow these discussions online, via the following links:
Youtube:
LinkedIn: bit.ly/CityofCTLinkedIn
Discussion topics
Tuesday, 3 October 2023
- Passenger rail reform – the need for passenger rail reform, the Constitutional mandate, the economics, funding, and operating responsibilities
- Putting people first in transport spaces – private car use dominates and determines development trends in Cape Town; how to promote transport efficiencies and spatial justice when the lack of sufficient public transport will not be resolved any time soon
- Formalising and modernising the minibus-taxi industry – the industry faces numerous challenges due to its informal nature, and a lack of investment and subsidies, it is missing out on the advantages of smart technologies and innovation. Is there a case for formalisation, and how?
- Sustainable mobility – Cape Town’s road network consists of over 10 700km and congestion is a major challenge, exacerbated by the implosion of passenger rail and our spatial form. How do these environmental challenges impact sustainable mobility and future planning?
Wednesday, 4 October 2023
- Delivering services when vandalism, theft, intimidation and crime undermine our infrastructure programme – demands for protection money, threats, intimidation, attacks, theft and robbery pose serious challenges and undermine the City’s efforts to deliver on its mandate. The panel will discuss the impact of criminality on commuters, and the City’s efforts to keep on delivering services and capital projects in a volatile environment.
- Urban solutions in a complex environment – tapping into everything smart and innovative to beat load-shedding and criminality, and working towards a transport vision where Cape Town has an integrated, intermodal public transport system with one ticket across different modes, be it for the train, the bus, or the minibus-taxi
The City of Cape Town is committed to building resilience, driving transport reform, reducing travel costs and commuting time, and alleviating congestion through innovative solutions and by working closely with transport stakeholders. This is in the interest of commuters, Capetonians, and our local economy.
Collaboration is needed now more than ever, to navigate the complex transport landscape, and to keep people, goods and services moving in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
The summit will be livestreamed so that the public can follow the discussions online. I encourage Capetonians to save the date, and join the conversation.
