Months of discussions between stakeholders led to a draft transportation charter, with plans to improve transport in Joburg. The finer details were thrashed out at the Inner City Summit at the weekend.

Executive mayor, Amos Masondo, promises to overhaul the public transport system in the inner city and beyond

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2007 VISITOR to Joburg and a visitor in 2010 would easily think they were visiting different cities when it comes to transport. The mayoral committee member for transportation, Rehana Moosajee, and her team, under executive director Bob Stanway, have spent the past few months consulting with transport stakeholders and have produced a draft charter that was presented at the City's Inner City Summit in Braamfontein on Saturday, 5 May.

"Unlike many cities elsewhere in the world, the inner city of Johannesburg lacks a world-class ‘distribution system' that enables residents of inner city and near-inner city neighbourhoods to get easily to and from school or work, and enables office workers to move between commercial nodes," reads the draft charter.

To counter this, the City's transportation department has devised a new system called the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) which will facilitate mobility into and out of, and within, the city. The taxi industry will be an integral part of the BRT, and will "provide a major new business opportunity for the taxi industry by allowing industry players to become major shareholders in the new system".

The BRT will have key intersections that will be designed to integrate with newly planned commercial developments, new residential developments, new public spaces and new street trading facilities. The planning for the BRT system will be complete by December 2007, with roll out expected by January 2010.

The department's plans encompass a number of other areas too: the Park Station Precinct; commuter rail; parking; taxi-ranking and holding; mobility and congestion; and transportation and traffic safety.

Park Station Precinct
The Park Station Precinct includes the Metro Mall taxi rank, long-distance taxi ranks along Noord Street, various formal and informal long-distance bus ranks and drop-off facilities, and the future Gautrain station. This probably makes it the "largest transport interchange anywhere in the country".

There is a concern that the precinct does not operate as a single integrated intermodal facility because of poor connections between the various modes and a lack of formal facilities.

To counter this, the department proposes that these areas be integrated into one inter-modal transport facility, called the International Transit and Shopping Centre, to be completed by December 2015. It is envisaged that the centre will be a public-private partnership development. It will contain taxi-holding and international bus-holding facilities.

Stanway said he saw the precinct providing the city with the equivalent of the quality services available at OR Tambo International Airport.

Commuter rail
A national commuter rail plan that envisages a major overhaul of all infrastructure and operations across the country over the next few years is being finalised.

Together with the City, the South African Rail Commuter Corporation/Intersite will rehabilitate stations in the inner city by 2010, providing improved accessibility for students, workers and visitors and, at the same time, creating opportunities for new retail and residential development.

The rehabilitation will have spill over effects, such as improvements to surrounding streets and the upgrading of pedestrian walkways.

Two stations, Doornfontein and Ellis Park, will probably be closed and a new station, located between the two, will be built. Other stations will be rehabilitated by March 2010.

Parking
Historically, the lack of parking has been a huge problem in the inner city, possibly a major factor in driving inner city decline.

The private sector has built a number of off-street parking facilities but in general parking remains a problem across the city, while on-street parking is poorly managed.

The dilemma is to provide for cars but also encourage motorists to make use of public transport. "While the City remains committed to shifting the balance towards public transport usage, it recognises that making more parking space available, both on- and off-street, and managing this more effectively, will be a key contributor towards the further regeneration of the inner city."

Johannesburg has to balance the supply and demand of parking, ensuring that private sector development complies with town planning schemes and supplying sufficient parking spaces to match the amount of office space.

Plans are on the drawing board. An integrated plan for the development or refurbishment of off-street parking will be completed by December 2007, to be fully rolled out by December 2010. Likewise, an integrated plan for the management and maintenance of on-street parking will be completed by December 2007, to be rolled out by March 2009.

Taxi ranking and holding
Existing facilities for minibus taxis are either inadequate or are not being fully utilised because of their location or inadequate maintenance.

This results in illegal taxi ranks, which in turn leads to congestion and inappropriate stopping points; this causes conflict with other road users or law enforcement officials.

The City aims to work with all taxi stakeholders to ensure there are no more unmanaged and illegal ranks or stops on the streets by March 2011. "This requires the development of an adequate number of taxi ranking and holding facilities, in full consultation with the taxi industry as to location, design and ongoing management," according to the draft charter.

A plan for the development of new taxi facilities and the re-development of existing facilities will be completed by June 2008, to be rolled out by March 2011.

Mobility and congestion
Synchronisation of traffic lights has lagged over the years, leading to congestion on city streets.

The Johannesburg Roads Agency is currently re-modelling and upgrading a synchronisation plan that involves various aspects of intelligent transport systems like intersection priority control and motorist information systems. These refer to links back to a control centre where robots are monitored and faults are immediately detected, or providing information to motorists driving on freeways on problems ahead

Future development needs to take into account increases in residential densities, BRT routes, proposed pedestrianisation of streets, and markets that accommodate street traders.

Pointsmen at key intersections have been introduced on a trial basis to ease traffic flow and to ensure "maximum mobility and minimum congestion". In partnership with the private sector, pointsmen will be in place across the city by September 2008.

Results of the traffic signalling and planning work will be published by December 2007, with new measures to be rolled out by December 2009.

Transportation and traffic safety
Johannesburg is particularly concerned about pedestrian safety and security and the improvement of the safety and security of public transport facilities.

"The City wishes to see dramatic improvements in motorist, pedestrian and commuter safety and security."

It is committed to improving the visibility of traffic law enforcement activities in key areas. It will run pedestrian safety educational awareness campaigns by June 2008, with a special focus on the safety and security of children as pedestrians, especially when they are using public transport.

These commitments come out of months of consultation with the relevant stakeholders. Further stakeholder discussions took place at the summit and out of these discussions the following were agreed: the need to intensify consultations; the need to put the commuter at the centre of all plans; the need for a forum immediately to address pressing short-term concerns like ranks and enforcement; and the need to take the disabled into consideration.