Johannesburg - The booming populations of African cities could leave motorists in urban areas vastly more frustrated by traffic levels than they are at the moment, delegates at the Africities Summit were told on Monday.
Giving a glimpse into the continent’s congested future was Dr Ousmane Thiam, of Dakar, Senegal.
“Africa was in for its share of the traffic problems that beset other parts of the world. In Europe, for example, cars stuck in peak hour traffic jams are responsible for countries losing up to 2 percent of their annual gross domestic product as motorists sit stranded in never-ending queues” said Ousmane Thiam.
Of course, it is not only GDP which suffers, but also air quality, Thiam said when predicting that, by 2050 - when Africa’s population grew to 25 percent of the world’s total - there would be 2.5 billion cars on the African continent.
This is far removed from the 800 million already on the continent.
Sustainable development could not occur without sustainable mobility.
Importantly, this should also include quality public transport systems that were flexible enough to attract patrons. Planning is essential if our cities are to survive and our quality of life is to be preserved.
This comes hot on the heels of the recently Ecomobility Festival hosted by the City of Johannesburg.
IOL
Adapted from a press release