Address by the Minister of Transport, Ms Dipuo Peters, on the occasion of the I-Transport and UATP Conference and Exhibition on the Future of Public Transport: Go Green Go Smart held at the Sandton Convention Centre Johannesburg
The Premier of Gauteng Province: The Hon. Mr David Makhura;
MEC for Roads and Transport in Gauteng: Hon Dr Ismail Vadi;
UATP President: Mr Jack Van der Merwe;
All ITS Chapter representing various countries;
Director-General of the Department of Transport in South Africa: Mr. Mokonyama Mathabatha;
CEOs of State-Owned Entities;
Heads of Departments of Transport;
Industry players in the Public Transport Sector;
Academia and civil society;
Officials from all spheres of government;
Members of the media;
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning,
On behalf of the people and the government of the Republic of South Africa, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you all to this important conference. In particular, I want to extend my warmest embraces to our international guests who have made their varyingly extensive, but worthwhile journeys to our shores with the intention of making this conference an unqualified success.
Programme Director;
I am truly delighted to be making this keynote address at this dignified occasion where we are meaningfully gathered under the theme: “Go Green Go Smart”. This theme reflects the need to improve transport efficiencies, to reduce the carbon footprint of the transport sector and encourages modal shifts. Furthermore, the theme specifically reflects the strong synergy between Public Transport and Intelligent Transport Systems. As we are gathered here today to consult, brainstorm ideas and deliberate, I want to call upon each and every single one of us here to look into the future and to think about the coming generations throughout the course of our engagements.
I make this humble plea considering that the reality of transportation is that it is future orientated. If we are planning for what we have now, we are behind the curve. Therefore, the pervading sub-theme which I will be speaking on “Making Transport Work Better for all,” should dovetail with the following prerequisites of effective and sustainable urban transport planning: innovative thinking, multi-modality, improvisation, cost effectiveness, environmental sustainability, efficiency, integration, safety, accessibility and futuristic designs. It is crucial that our conference encompasses all of the above-mentioned requirements, because forecasts indicate that by 2025, almost 60% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this theme is about the smart collaboration among the three spheres of government, nationally, provincially and local, as well as collaboration with the private sector and civil society. Given the constitutional allocation of overlapping transport roles among the three spheres of government, we have no option but to work together and to work smartly.
What this highlights, very powerfully, are the challenges that we all face as decision makers about the giant task that lies ahead of us –
- To improve the quality and speed of our public transport;
- To make it a genuine and attractive alternative to the car;
- To unclog our streets from the congestion that sucks so much productive time from the lives of people living in our ever-crowded cities; and
- Reign in the carbon emissions that pollute our air and reduce the quality of life for all of us.
Public transport is and must become an even bigger part of the solution. It must be factored in at the very outset of every decision about new urban developments, whether it be housing, hospitals, universities or employment centres. Government strongly believes that infrastructure, planning, investment and reform can – and must – support and incorporate public transport. Public transport network services that make cities work for their citizens means authorities have to be good at gathering data continuously, developing plans and services that are implementable, procuring, negotiating, managing and monitoring private and public operators and suppliers and communicating constantly with the public and users.
This requires a user focus, continuous product and service refinement and, smart management of data to measure performance. Historically, the public transport sector across the three spheres has been operator driven and the captive users had no choice. In South Africa, the review of the transport sector policy leading to the 1996 White Paper on Transport Policy identified the fragmentation of transport functions and responsibilities between local government and other spheres of government as one of the major problems inhibiting effective and efficient transport service delivery. It is crucial that our conference encompasses all of the above-mentioned requirements, because forecasts indicate that by 2025, almost 60% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas.
There has been overwhelming evidence from certain European Countries and the United Kingdom that Transport Authorities (TAs) can play a catalyst role in addressing fragmentation in transport service delivery and improvement of the service quality. Although the National Land Transport Act, No. 5 of 2009 (the NLTA) does not make any provision for the establishment of Transport Authorities anywhere in South Africa, however International experience has shown that Transport Authorities play a key role towards improving public transport service delivery by grouping and integrating all public transport functions under one institutional structure. It is therefore in this context, that the Transport Authorities has a potential role to play in the planning, management and public transport operational functions.
Ladies and gentlemen, with our metropolitan cities especially, continuing to expand through urbanisation, it is imperative that we start preparing now for a very different urban mobility modal split in 2030. This modal split will have to prioritise public transport services. We are not going to build our way out of congestion, if public transport planning is not prioritised. Already freeway capacity upgrades for 2010 here in Gauteng are witnessing increasing peak period, peak direction congestion. All it takes is for one minor crash at a critical point to bottleneck an entire region. A key plank in our programme across the three spheres of government is to make public transport work for all in an expanding manner towards 2030 and beyond until we achieve the fully integrated formal road and rail service networks across the Gauteng city region.
These road and rail networks will integrate on the basis that all aspects of the travel chain from the first mile to the main trunk line to the last mile are user friendly, reliable, safe and affordable. Over time we should also make them universally accessible to all users - whether you are elderly, pregnant, travelling with children or disabled. As national government, we are investing meaningfully in upgrading road based public transport in thirteen (13) cities to the tune of R6billion per annum as well as the Prasa 5 passenger rail upgrade programme in seven (7) cities to the tune of over R100billion over the next ten (10) years. Apart from this national funding, the Gauteng Province has blazed a trail with the Gautrain and their plans to expand the provincial rail network - in alignment with Prasa and each city.
This is done in order to serve more communities across the city boundaries. Programme Director, the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) reveals that barriers to mobility in the country have been reduced in the last eleven years, yet several challenges remain. Rural households have better access to public transport and have reduced travel times. There has been a general increase in the percentage of households who used taxis (from 59% to 68,8%), buses (from 16,6% to 20,1%) and trains (from 5,7% to 9,9%). This reflects a general increase of the percentage of travelers in the country during 2003 and 2013. Indeed the ANC led Government is the government at work. A lot of improvements have been made in the Public Transport sector.
However, we must continue to make more viable alternatives to private transport and encourage ecomobility. All public transport modes must be integrated and must remain accessible, reliable and affordable to the elderly, people living with disabilities and the most vulnerable in our society. The reputable Legatum Index recently placed South Africa second on the continent and 75th in the world in the 2015 global prosperity index rankings. South Africa's best performance is in the Entrepreneurship & Opportunity sub-index, where it ranks 37th 8 globally.
This means that South Africa is fresh with opportunities and is one of the most prosperous nations in the world and this can only be possible through a fully effective public transport system. Needless to say that our country is on a steady upward trajectory as we have moved six places up from the 2014 rankings. Programme Director In proactive anticipation of the aforementioned bourgeoning urbanisation, the National Transport Master Plan (NATMAP) Vision 2050 is finalised.
NAPMAP aim to deliver a dynamic, long-term, and sustainable transportation systems framework in South Africa. The primary goal of NATMAP 2050 is the development of an integrated, dynamic, sustainable framework for transport infrastructure implementation and services provision in South Africa. It reflects the shifting of transport ideology in support of the government’s current radical economic transformation process, which aims to develop the country, not in the typical demand responsive way, where we provide transport infrastructure in response to sufficient demand, but rather using a developmental and transformative approach.
This means transport projects have to be used as a catalyst to unlock development and support transformation in our country even though there is not always sufficient demand. Many of us would realise that Master Plans of the NATMAP’s denomination are becoming a development benchmark across all government domains in Africa. Further, Master Plans are becoming increasingly predicated on national, regional and continental policy alignment. For instance, due to unflagging internal and external pressure on African governments to accelerate the development of critical infrastructure in transport, ICT and energy, individual African infrastructure strategies are being aligned through the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).
From a regional perspective, policy alignment finds no greater expression than in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Infrastructure Development Plan and the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Inter-regional Infrastructure Master Plan. Being no exception to the rule of thumb, the Gauteng Provincial Government, through the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT) has developed a 25-Year Integrated Transport Master Plan (ITMP25) for the Gauteng Province and it is duly aligned with NATMAP 2050. The need for a smart transport authority for the Gauteng City-Region arises from the need to manage the multitude of challenges that are posed by rapid urbanisation in the region.
The transition towards a Gauteng City Region Transport Authority would actualise a supervisory structure that would plan for the kinds of growth trajectories, and policies that promote spatial, mobility and energy efficiencies in the region. Programme Director, the Government is committed to a far-reaching vision for a more prosperous South Africa – the one that puts an improved transport system and a smarter approach to make our transport work better for all at its heart. Clearly there is much more that can and must be done. I assure you from a government perspective, we remain ready to tackle the challenges ahead.
In closing, I would like to make the following few remarks. The provenance of South Africa’s democratic Republic is intrinsically associated with consultative processes. 26 years ago, the African National Congress led all progressive forces at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA), which culminated in a peaceful transition from apartheid to a democratic and free South Africa.
This enormous feat was achieved through deliberative consultation and it is my sincere persuasion that our discussions, here today, will be similarly successful and beneficial. It is said that “exploration is the engine that drives innovation. Innovation drives economic growth” so I urge you all to use this consultative platform to explore the most optimal mechanisms to make the Gauteng City Region a truly sustainable City on the move!
I thank you all!!
