New transport plan will boost the economy and help connect the city, writes eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo.
Durban - As the country celebrates Public Transport Month, it is crucial for all of us to understand that a reliable and efficient public transport system not only links communities and parts of the city that have been disconnected for decades because of apartheid, but it is also the cornerstone of our economy.
The eThekwini leadership is committed to developing the municipality from the ashes of apartheid into a prosperous city. The residents of eThekwini are our priority and one of the ways to demonstrate our commitment to them is by ensuring that our city prospers through developing a city-wide public transport system that is safe and affordable.
With the city’s multibillion-rand GO!Durban project currently under way, children arriving late at school, constantly increasing travelling costs and safety concerns will soon be a distant memory.
According to the International Association of Public Transport, urban transport plays a major role in the organisation and management of land use. Therefore, an effective urban transport system is necessary for the daily activities of residents and for the economic growth of cities.
There is a need for planning, regulating, control and organisation of the public transport sector, illustrating the contribution that public transport makes to the affluence of cities.
The International Association of Public Transport also states that by 2025, almost 60 percent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas, meaning people will want and need to make more journeys.
Therefore, in an increasingly urbanised world, inclusive green growth depends on efficient urban mobility and adequate public transport infrastructure and services.
If current mobility habits prevail, marked by the dominance of private motorised modes, urban congestion will gridlock cities, rapidly increasing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.
The Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network, also known as GO!Durban, aims to improve the quality of life of citizens and visitors alike. This is a legacy project that will benefit future generations.
If the city is to achieve higher rates of growth in economic development and address unemployment and inequality, we need a vastly improved public transport system that will bring about far-reaching benefits for resident and visiting public transport users.
It is the biggest infrastructural project that the city has ever undertaken with an investment of R22 billion over 13 years.
Construction of GO!Durban is well under way with the development of the C3 Corridor, from Bridge City in KwaMashu to the Pinetown city centre, in the first phase of the project.
The first corridor or trunk route is expected to be operational in 2016. Construction has started on the dedicated public transport lanes on the MR577, a provincial road, which links KwaMashu to Pinetown. Construction has also started on Josiah Gumede Road (Old Main Road) in Pinetown.
This trunk route will accommodate 18 transfer stations and 24km of dedicated lanes.
It is important for our residents to understand that the project is not only an introduction of buses, but it also involves planning, restructuring and integrating various modes of public transport, including minibuses, buses and rail, all working together in an integrated network. Various modes of transport will be utilised in routes where they are best suitable.
For example, minibus and midibus taxis will provide contracted feeder services to bus and rail routes.
The new public transport network will be linked by integrated infrastructure, which are dedicated right of ways, stations and stops, as well as integrated ticketing system such as the Muvo Card, whereby passengers will pay a fare across the various modes of public transport.
That will ensure a seamless transfer from one mode to the other for passenger convenience.
Another crucial aspect of this project is that there will be empowerment opportunities for all existing legal minibus and small bus operators.
They will be given a chance to form companies with which the city will negotiate 12-year subsidised services contracts for the operation of the services in the various routes and corridors.
Seventy-one articulated buses will have right of way directly along the corridor, ensuring that passengers have an efficient commute, free of congestion and delays. There is a terminal at Bridge City in KwaMashu and the buses will turn at Lahee Park in Pinetown and return to KwaMashu.
The massive project follows surveys done by the municipality to determine travel patterns across the city.
They showed the northern corridor had the biggest increase in traffic volumes and the most congestion as a result of employment opportunities and new developments in that region.
Traffic volumes between 2004 and last year on the M41 in uMhlanga have increased to 80.3 percent from 13.9 percent.
GO!Durban promotes participation of priority business entities in all contracts, subcontracting to local contractors and sourcing of materials from local suppliers.
Given that it also promotes the use of local unskilled labour, skills development, employment of unemployed graduates and corporate social investment by the contractors, the project is able to bridge the economic empowerment and labour gaps of the past.
During this construction phase, we recognise that motorists will experience delays and inconvenience, but request that people be patient. We are doing everything possible to minimise the inconvenience resulting from construction through traffic management and accommodation plans, as well as the speed with which the GO!Durban project will be undertaken.
We will continue to engage with stakeholders and communities, including the taxi industry, in these affected areas and request that all citizens work with us to help create one of the most exciting developments in the city.
* James Nxumalo is the mayor of eThekwini.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.
The Mercury