Massive migration straining Gauteng’s service delivery systems

27th September 2013

By: Irma Venter

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

  

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Gauteng’s population is growing at around 20 000 people a month, says Gauteng Roads and Transport MEC Dr Ismail Vadi. He says people are flowing into the province, the country’s economic powerhouse, from all over the country, as well as north of South Africa.

“This is putting huge pressure on all of our service delivery systems.”

The province’s vehicle population is also expanding rapidly, and is expected to almost double from the current 3.6-million vehicles, of which 62 000 are minibus taxis, to around 6.6-million vehicles over the next 25 years.

“We have to plan for that,” says Vadi. Planning for Growth
Planning for growth in the population and growth in vehicle parc in Gauteng will have to be done through the province’s proposed 25-year integrated transport master plan (ITMP25), set to guide the Gauteng government in its transport development and planning.

The document also addresses issues related to transport, such as housing and spatial planning.

Vadi says it is important for the ITMP25 to address the densification of existing residential areas, rather than continue expansion towards the province’s edge.

“Once we have densified, we can put in the transport infrastructure.” ITMP25 steering committee chairperson Jack van der Merwe says residential density in Gauteng is 7.43 units per hectare, compared with 20 units per hectare in London, and 51 units per hectare in Lagos.

Proposed transport infrastructure in the densified areas will, hopefully, in around five years, include around 1 000 km of bus rapid transit system routes.

The corridor that the ITMP25 has targeted for densification, or the corridor that will be the province’s “next critical dev from Pretoria to Johannesburg, as well as east of OR Tambo International Airport towards Pretoria, “and then cutting a 45˚ angle towards Lanseria Airport”.

Vadi says it is important to preserve Gauteng’s agricultural and conservation land as the province develops.

It is also important to reduce transport’s carbon footprint. Vadi hints at a “policy shift” as the province is busy drafting a sustainable transport document that will soon be published for comment.

“The reliance on petrol [and diesel] in the province is not sustainable.”

Vadi adds that any future development of the Gauteng transport system will, however, require a reliance on intelligent transport sys-tems (ITSes).

Typical ITS applications in Gauteng will include, or already include, traffic man-agement to reduce congestion, freeway inci- dent management, automated fare collection through the use of one ticket on all modes of transport, fleet management systems, and transport management centres – ideally through a single provincial command centre.

Vadi says there is “massive scope for expansion” in the ITS industry in the province, including through the research and development of new products.

“There is a lot of work to be done to develop the right kind of technology for the province.”

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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