The City is proposing Travel Demand Management, which looks at various ways of reducing congestion on roads. And it wants suggestions.

AVE you thought, as an individual or a company, about alternatives to the excessive use of private transport and the resultant traffic congestion and pollution in Joburg?

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The City's transportation department is keen for residents to consider other means of getting to work every day, and is proposing Travel Demand Management or TDM.

TDM has three objectives - to create awareness among commuters and business communities of the existence of alternatives to cars; to support the increasing use of alternatives by making them more attractive; and to promote informed travel choices by outlining the true cost of car travel.

The benefits include reduced traffic congestion, savings to parking costs, energy conservation, a decrease in vehicle accidents and a drop in pollution.

In addition, the mayoral committee member for transportation, Rehana Moosajee, is keen for residents and corporates to come up with their own ideas to reduce traffic congestion.

Moosajee says that the need to reduce traffic congestion is not unique to Joburg. Major cities like London and New York, with sophisticated public transport systems like the underground, trains and buses, experience congestion on their roads as much as Joburg does.

She compared Joburg with the growing city of Dubai in the Arab Emirates which also has huge congestion problems, because of the population growth and the number of vehicles on the roads escalating annually. The number of vehicles on the roads increased by more than 100 percent in Dubai over the last four years, according to a recent Gulf News report, showing photographs of multi-lane congestion on both sides of a highway.

"We are not alone as a growing city," she says. Peak oil, when the world has reached its peak oil production levels and when production will, in future, decline and therefore be at variance with demand, is going to influence congestion in cities in future, adds Moosajee.

Choices and strategies
"At the moment South Africans don't have a choice," she says, speaking about different forms of transport. But that will change in April 2009 with the introduction of Rea Vaya, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system between Soweto and the Coca-Cola Stadium. It is a system in which buses travel in the middle lane, thereby avoiding congestion, and moving passengers with speed. The first prototype BRT station will open in October this year.

The BRT ties in nicely with the Gautrain, says Moosajee, particularly at Park Station, Rosebank and Sandton, where passengers can make an easy switch from one transport system to another. The high-speed Gautrain is due to start running in June 2010, with stations in the CBD, Rosebank, Sandton, Midrand, OR Tambo International Airport, and Tshwane.

"Mass transportation is our biggest intervention in helping congestion."

Early signs are positive - Moosajee says that Metrobus ridership figures have gone up, indicating that people are concerned about cutting down on car usage.

Her department is also looking at the City's parking policy and the re-introduction of parking meters, and reducing the number of parking spaces in the city, to discourage the use of cars in the CBD. In future, cycling lanes may be introduced, to encourage Joburgers to leave their cars at home, reduce pollution and enjoy a healthier lifestyle.

The City has come up with a number of private transport travel strategies: ridesharing; telework or telecommuting; and variable working hours, which includes flexitime, staggered working hours, extended or compressed working weeks.

The transportation department itself will be experimenting with variable working hours and telecommuting.

"Joburgers have a pioneering spirit and I'm hoping to see this - this is not an easy project but it has to be done, we are moving in the right direction."

Ridesharing
A rideshare is defined as two or four people sharing a lift to a common destination. Each person in the group takes turns to drive each other in their own cars, without payments.

The advantages of this method of transport include reduced driving stress; less wear and tear on vehicles; cost saving; safety, as single drivers are seen as easier hijacking victims; and as a back-up system when any member of the carpool has a crisis and does not have her or his car.

Disadvantages include liability and insurance aspects to indemnify the City against any claims that may arise as a result of participation in the lift club. The potential problems include club members exchanging money for lifts, a practice which would be illegal. A way to get around this is would be to provide every lift club with an identity sticker and a membership code to be displayed. This would confirm that they were in compliance with the law.

A third disadvantage is the "guaranteed ride home", when a driver in the club cannot fulfil his or her obligation, as in the case of going home early or in an emergency.

In Midrand, a rideshare system was established, with a variety of methods. Monday and Friday clubs were initiated, to cater for those people who had to use their cars periodically at work. Back-up Buddies was created, where people networked for a ride in the event of a crisis. Mercy friends were established, where people would provide lifts for the disabled when required.

Ridesharing data was advertised in the local weekly paper and a database of ridesharers and routes was established.

The City is suggesting a Commuter Service Centre that will act as a central information station which co-ordinates rideshare data.

Moosajee is hoping that ridesharing is going to become more of a feature in the city.

Telecommuting
This strategy involves employees working at home or elsewhere other than work. Completed work could be emailed to colleagues as and when required.

"This measure should be able to reduce the employee's commuting time by 25 percent or more in order to make it a valuable TDM option," according to the City's TDM business plan.

The major advantage of this strategy is that it allows flexibility in both the employee's and the employer's work places. An employer can use workstations and office space optimally. It means too that in case of a power outage or other emergency, work will continue.

Disadvantages include output or productivity monitoring mechanisms, frequent debriefing sessions, selection criteria for telecommuting employees, and workman's compensation and group life insurance.

Across the world telecommuting stations have been established at strategic points like libraries, community centres, internet cafes and hotels, allowing those who do not have hardware or internet connections to take advantage of the system.

Clearly costing, maintenance and high-use are crucial to make this system work.

Variable working hours
Variable working hours, or VWH, refer to hours that deviate from the standard 8am to 5pm schedule. Alternatives involve flexitime; staggered working hours; extended working weeks; or compressed working weeks.

Flexitime involves beginning and ending the working day at any given time so long as the employee puts in the working hour quota, or that they are in the office for important meetings or events. This method is particularly important for those who travel long distances to work. The disadvantage for the employer is to monitor productivity levels or abuse of the system.

Staggered working hours allow a company to stagger work hours of different departments, as a way of managing internal congestion and security in the workplace, as well as to streamline supervisory energies.

Extended working weeks involve stretching the average working week to yield shorter working days but more working days, including weekends and public holidays. This allows for off-peak travel, and provides employees with a more leisurely working pace.

Compressed working weeks are considered to be a reward-based TDM strategy that allow employees to work four working days of 10 hours each. This means that the employee will not be driving on the fifth day of the week, relieving congestion on the roads for that day.

"In general, VWH strategies are practised widely and yield good results if managed well," indicates the plan.

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