By Vincent Raseroka

South Africa can fundamentally change the way the public transport system is operating, if the opportunity that is staring us in the face is taken.

If we introduce electric or renewable- energy vehicles in the public transport system, in ten years’ time, we will be running a safe, inexpensive and low-emissions public transport system.

In addition, we will cut the cost of transport to the commuter, while setting an example to the rest of the world of how an industry can be turned around and cutting our reliance on expensive crude oil imports.

There is little doubt that electric vehicles (EVs) are the transport mode of the future. In many developed countries, fossil fuels like diesel are being phased out, if not banned.

German automaker Volkswagen announced in December that its next generation of internal combustion engines would be the last.

The purchase price of EVs is still about three times as much as the purchase price of conventional petrol or diesel vehicles, but the benefits of EVs far outstrip those of the vehicles currently on our roads.

EVs are much cleaner to run, with almost no (local) emissions while operating the vehicle; unfortunately, we still have to rely on State-owned utility Eskom’s dirty fossil fuel power plants to generate that electricity.

Secondly, the running costs of EVs are much lower than those of their petrol or diesel counterparts, and the batteries can be recycled.

The downside of running a public transport system comprising EVs is that the system might put more pressure on Eskom’s almost nonexistent reserve margin for power generation. But this can – and should –be mitigated by an increased use of renewable-energy generation.

China is a perfect example of how we can completely revolutionise public transport, should we choose to do so. From being one of the biggest air polluters in the world, China has, in the past few years, made a significant investment in EVs and introduced wide-ranging regulations to drive the use of EVs.

Like South Africa, China relies heavily on coal-burning power plants, which has evoked the criticism that EVs produce even more smog in cities than petrol variants. But a future energy mix that relies more on green energy may soon change this.

The need for a greener economy, however, is only one of the driving forces behind China’s push towards EVs. The main driver is the country’s ambition to become the leader in a new high-tech industry.

South Africa can benefit greatly from aggressively pushing a move to EVs in the public transport sector. Drawing lessons from the growth in the Chinese EV sector, for example, South Africa can leap-frog the transitional technologies and head straight into a new future where our transport system relies on new energy.

To do this, we need to do three things. Firstly, we need our policymakers to make a drastic mind shift and accept – and pushing for – new, greener electricity generation, while removing red tape, such as the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s current proposal to regulate residential solar power systems.

Secondly, government must subsidise all imports of EVs – whether the imported vehile is a minibus taxi, a BMWi3 or a Toyota Prius – to make it attractive for manufacturers to bring their electric cars here and make them competitive in the market.

The third move would be to set up electric charging stations for taxis at places such as filling stations or taxi ranks. If charging is free or attracts a minimal cost, taxi owners will be incentivised to change to EVs. Charging stations can be powered using renewable-energy resources, opening up a whole new industry run by entrepreneurs, potentially creating a range of new, much-needed jobs.

All we need for this to happen is, as was the case in China, a series of brave, forward- thinking decisions. If we set some goals, for instance, that, by 2025, 25% of the country’s workforce must commute to and from work in EVs and that, by 2030, this must increase to 60%, we can fundamentally change the dynamics of the public transport industry.

South Africa is, in many instances, standing at a crossroads in terms of changing our industry and our country for the better. We have a whole range of new technologies and expertise at our disposal. The developed world has already done the homework for us.

We have a blank canvas. We can use the crib sheets, and paint ourselves a new, clean future, and, like China, become a tech leader in the public transport space.

• Raseroka is chairperson of Bridge Taxi Finance