DORIANNE ARENDSE
Government has not thought through the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) / Integrated Rapid Transit System (IRT). This was the word from Paul Browning from Lesiba Madau Consulting, who has written a paper on the BRT. According to Browning, even though the IRT will be streamlining the transport system in the country, it is difficult to implement because the taxi recapitalization program which government embarked on during 2004 has not yet being fully completed.
When the recapitalization program was first tabled to the taxi industry, owners were offered a R50 000 scrapping fee which would allow them to put down a deposit on the new Quantum vans which government wanted to introduce as a safer mode of transport. He said the plan which was first mooted as far back as 1999 was done with the best of intentions.
"It was only in 2004 that the program finally got off the ground. Its intentions were admirable- to take the existing almost like panel van conversions, which has been used as a taxi up until now- into something that was a little like a minibus certainly safer and a whole lot more comfortable for customers.
"But the progress has been slow and in any case there were voices that said that to simply change the vehicle, will not in itself change for example the attitude of drivers or stop them from running through red robots. People including myself suggested that the program would be incomplete unless there was an attempt to change the structure of operation of the taxi industry," explained Browning.
Changing industry
According to Browning, the BRT/IRT was set to change the face of the taxi industry. "Now we come to BRT which is to change the structure of the industry. But government is really caught on the horns of the dilemma; it is still in the middle of this recapitalization program - only about 30,000 taxis have so far been converted and now as you have rightfully indicate government is saying but now we probably want you to buy big buses. And no one has yet to my knowledge has properly explained the relationship between the recapitalization program and the BRT/IRT system," the transport expert said.
He was of the opinion that the intention of the IRT system was not communicated properly to the role players in the taxi industry and was further exacerbated by the fact that taxi drivers were not sure what their potential earnings would be once they have formed a company which they will buy shares in as required by the IRT system.
"I have great sympathy with people that say but only a year ago I bought a new Quantum and yes I got R50 000 as a scrapping allowance but I still owe R200 000 on a vehicle and I'm told that it will no longer be used. Now that situation cannot remain. I do not think that government has thought this thing through sufficiently.
"There has been a bit of a left hand, right hand here at national government level. The recap program has been dealt with by one arm of the department of transport and the BRT has been dealt with by another arm but they are along the same corridor and one would have thought that they would have talk a little more closely," he said.
Browning explained that government had gone wrong when they assumed that because of the examples that they had scene overseas particular in Columbia could be translated to South Africa because it has a similar transport system to the one being used in South Africa.
Example
"In Bogota for example there was a large minibus informal sector and they felt that the techniques that have been used by Columbian authorities could be reproduced here. Once again some of us warned that our minibus taxi industry was a singularly unique phenomenon and it would require far more careful and sensitive handling. They have to work as much as by persuasion as by legislation," he said.
When asked if government had asked transport experts to give their input to Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Transport, Browning replied that he was asked to make a presentation before the committee in 2004. "I have written fairly extensively on the reasons for the opposition from the taxi industry to the IRT. But the last time I was called before the Portfolio Committee was 2004.
"So I do not think that my input has been fairly relevant to what has happened since then. There are some of us who feel that whilst the objectives of the public transport system are correct, the strategy has some weaknesses. It is fair to say that not too many of those views are aired before the Parliamentary Committee of Transport.
According to Browning the IRT system will be viable to implement in South Africa. "In the long run, but I think the way to go about it is to build up to it steadily, rather than try and implement it in what I sometimes call the big bang theory. People who are dependent on public transport I'm sure would love to have the IRT system in place and available to them for 20 or more hours a day.
"But if we take the present state of our public transport system, whether it be bus or taxi it is really poor by world standards. What government should be doing is to take immediate action steps to improve that transport by increasing the hours of operation, whilst not creating opposition from the taxi industry because of their fears of this huge change to the way the transport system will be working," said Browning
