South Africa’s transport procurement system is often driven by cost, rather than value, says Intelligent Transport Society of South Africa (ITSSA) CEO Dr Paul Vorster.

“We tend to look for the lowest-cost supplier of services and equipment and not always the best value. The problem with this is that the lowest-cost solution may not necessarily be the best solution. It may take longer to implement and it may be less effective – this is especially true in terms of transport solutions, which require a high level of integration with other existing systems.

“The quest for lowest-cost solutions is the reason why some public transport systems are struggling in South Africa. Public transport solutions require seamless integration between a number of systems, such as ticketing, route scheduling, security and passenger information, which all carry a price tag, but the price is definitely worth paying.

“Think, for example, of a smart card payment system. Consider the time it takes to load up passengers – such as in taxis – if they all have to buy a paper ticket, instead of tapping a preloaded smart card. Intelligent transport systems are not cost drivers in public transport, but rather value drivers.”

Vorster emphasises that South Africa has made “great progress” in developing the country’s public transport systems.

“Ten years ago, there was no Gautrain, no Rea Vaya, no MyCiti bus rapid transit systems. We must be aware that crossing the divide from almost no public transport to efficient, integrated public transport will not be done in one giant leap, but in a series of small steps.

“And the logical next step, once these operating systems have been established, is to ensure interoperability between them – for example, between Rea Vaya and the Gautrain.

“This is difficult, however, as South Africa’s public transport systems face the challenge of our country’s collective history, as well as the fact that each government level can make its own decisions about its own public transport system, making integration difficult. In the case of the Gauteng city region, there is a clear need to establish a single transport authority.”

In an attempt to answer some of the challenges faced by public transport systems in South Africa, ITSSA and the African Union of Public Transport (UATP) have decided to cohost the biennial i-Transport Conference and Exhibition.

The UATP is the African chapter of the UITP, which is the international organisation for public transport authorities and operators.

Gautrain Management Agency CEO Jack van der Merwe is UATP president.

The conference will run from February 14 to 16, at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg.

To make this a continentwide conference, the event is joined by the ITS Africa working group (consisting of Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa). Work is under way to establish ITS Namibia, which should then join ITS Africa.

The ITS Africa working group will also be a cohost of the conference.

The UATP and ITS Africa will also have their respective annual general meetings at the conference.

The conference will cover a variety of issues, says Vorster, such as the benefits of public transport; efficient public transport; ensuring more effective movement of the private car fleet within a city; reducing the carbon footprint in cities by increasing the use of public transport; as well as implementing public transport that reduces a city’s carbon footprint.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura is the patron of the conference, which is set to feature a number of African Transport Ministers.