R750m to ease Cape Town traffic

Cape Town is the 55th most congested city in the world, according to recent research. File picture: David Ritchie / Independent Media.

Cape Town is the 55th most congested city in the world, according to recent research. File picture: David Ritchie / Independent Media.

Published Nov 4, 2015

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Cape Town, the most congested city in South Africa, is going to spend R750 million over five years to ease its mounting traffic problem, Mayor Patricia de Lille has announced.

The money will be spent improving infrastructure along key commuter routes where congestion is worst, the mayor said at a special summit convened to address the problem at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) on Wednesday.

This will be done according to a multi-pronged approach that will include developing public transport and other initiatives to help mitigate the problem.

The Kuils River area around Bottelary, Amandel and Saxdown roads, Kommetjie around OuKaapse Weg and Kommetjie Road, and the Blaauwberg area around Plattekloof, Blaauwberg and Sandown roads are among some of the first pressure points to be addressed.

The Congestion Programme will also address other pressure points along the M3, M5, N1 and N2 freeways, and at the Waterfront and Foreshore.

Cape Town was the 55th most congested city in the world, according to recent research, De Lille said. Latest statistics confirm that the morning peak hour period on the city’s major arteries has increased from 7am to 9am (two hours) to the current 6am to 10am (four hours) within two years, she said.

“I was fortunate – it took me five minutes to get here (the CTICC) from the Civic Centre, but I am sure that some of you in the audience took the N1 from the northern suburbs this morning and probably travelled for 75 minutes to the city, if not longer,” she said.

“In 2013, the Tom Tom global traffic index revealed that Cape Town is the most congested city in South Africa with a global ranking at 55th place.

“The survey also revealed that motorists are spending an extra 71 percent of their time in traffic.

“We are also the fastest growing city in the country with a growth rate of 30 percent as the 2011 Census recorded.”

THE COST OF CONGESTION

De Lille said congestion came at a great cost of time and money, but also with pollution and long-term environmental effects.

“We are here today to discuss with our partners – in national and provincial government, the business community, investors and our residents – the effect of congestion on our quality of life and the city’s economy.

“The different spheres of government and the private sector will also have to work together to find economically sustainable long-term solutions to ensure that we meet the travel demands of a population which is predicted to increase to approximately 5.6 million in 2032.”

The current situation was already untenable, she said.

“Today I propose that the City puts forward an amount of R750 million over a period of five years for road infrastructure projects to address the issue of traffic congestion to begin to alleviate the major pressure points.

“We will propose that the R750 million is spent in accordance with a Congestion Management Programme – a document that is being finalised to be approved by Council by the end of the year and which prioritises the congestion points across the city and how we can begin to address this in terms of infrastructure, operations and behavioural change.

“We have already responded by allocating R40 million in the current financial year for addressing traffic congestion,” De Lille said.

SMART TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

The City would take the lead in experimenting with travel-demand management and introducing flexitime for city officials, as well as car-sharing initiatives, she said.

“Without operational and behavioural change projects running alongside infrastructure intervention, we will not have a sustainable approach.”

Therefore, merely building more roads was not a viable and long-term solution because the more roads built, the more private cars go on these roads, De Lille said.

The city hoped to attract more private vehicle owners to use public transport.

Public transport modes had to be integrated, costs had to be addressed and Transport of the City of Cape Town, which currently managed the Bus Rapid Transport system, had to become the single authority managing public transport.

Cape Argus

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