of Widney Transport Components (Pty) Ltd
18 April 2006
PG Group CEO - Stewart Jennings
Widney Managing Director - Stoncey Steenkamp
Phatsima Directors - Herman Mashaba and Norman Malao
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Members of the media
I am pleased to join Widney Transport Components on its launch today. This
development could not have come at any better time than this when we are in the
midst of addressing challenges and focussing on developments within our public
transport system.
Government applauds the progress in the manufacture of glass, door and other
products by Widney for our public transport industry that carter for our rail,
taxi and bus industry and other automotive sectors. This fits into our broader
strategy of achieving a safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable public
transport system for the people. South Africa's transport sector presents many
opportunities and great challenges today. In dealing with challenges of
passenger transport and how, as Government, we plan to respond to them, we
should perhaps remind ourselves of some key strategic facts regarding passenger
transport access, affordability and user perceptions. The establishment of
Widney will assist the Government and the private sector in the transport
industry to alleviate some of the shortcomings and challenges revealed in the
National Household Travel Survey released by the Department of Transport last
year.
The National Household Travel Survey released last year highlighted
that:
Approximately 74% of South Africa households do not have access to a car and
79% of South Africa adults have no driver's licence. This means that over 9
million households lack access to a car. Public transport costs are high for
both government and users 18% of all South African households spend more that
20% of their income on public transport and 31% of households spend more than
10%. It also costs Government as well, with a combined R5 billion going to bus
and rail subsidies per annum to serve an estimated total of 2 million daily
commuters. Access to Public Transport at a national level is uneven. Some 76%
of all households in South Africa lack access to a train, 38% lack access to a
bus and eight percent to a taxi.
On a weekly basis, 15% of the total population used a car at least once
versus 32% of the population who used a public transport mode at least once.
Minibus taxis carry 64% of the 3.8 million public transport worker travellers
and are dominant in all areas, even without receiving a direct subsidy.
Subsidised train services are fairly significant in metropolitan areas (24% of
public transport commuters) and the subsidised bus mode features strongly in
rural areas (42.5% of public transport commuters).
In the past financial year the Department of Transport (DoT) spent
approximately R2.1 billion on road-based (mostly bus) subsidies and R2.4
billion on commuter rail subsidies. This R4.5 billion per annum is spent on
serving approximately 2 million travellers (mostly urban workers). While there
is room for greater targeting of the current subsidy to serve the deserving, on
the whole, most of the existing users are the working poor. Their average
monthly income is around R2000 p/m.
Government's response to passenger transport challenges is based on
Integration in the public transport environment. Integration, therefore, is not
an end in itself, and needs to be assessed in terms of its relevance to
achieving our long term Passenger Transport Vision. This vision is about
ensuring that all citizens of South Africa have access to high quality
transport services that enable them to be mobile so that they can live
productive and dignified lives.
Public transport integration should be linked to city strategies to manage
private car use and to promote public transport supportive land use. We are not
seeing anything creative in this regard in our cities when compared to the
Latin American and Asian developing country best practice. The interventions we
seek in public transport, in the medium to long term, include the development
of city network plans, which views public transport as one mode/service -
regardless of the different sized vehicles that are used on different
components of the network. The city then constructs the required public
transport infrastructure, including dedicated road space, dignified public
space, good pedestrian and bicycle access, good park and ride facilities for
car users, and high quality stations, stops, interchanges and terminals.
Second is ensuring that quality vehicles are utilised to meet the corridors'
particular service requirements and these are specified in the contracts the
city issues to operators. In countries that have designed successful public
transport systems, the city collects the revenue and pays operators per vehicle
kilometre and semi-formal operators are drawn into providing service in the
corridor network but only in terms of the integrated plan, and the network is
monitored and controlled through Public Transport Information Technology such
as smart cards that can be used anywhere in the network.
The focus of these upgraded networks is on the USER, safety, security,
cleanliness, reliability and comfort. There are no short cuts. The objective is
to create a public transport network that ordinary citizens can be proud of and
hence protective of. To add to user convenience, simple fare structures are
developed that allow users to take maximum advantage of the network, through
free transfers.
Ladies and gentlemen, this programme includes a focus on each of the three
public transport modes plus a focus on managing private car use.
Regarding minibus taxi transformation and subsidisation, the Department
acknowledges the strategic role of taxis which are the most commonly used mode
in the country after walking. We have announced a scrapping allowance of R50
000 per taxi as well as new taxi vehicle specifications that will focus on
safety improvements and which will be open to any manufacturer to produce.
We are currently awarding the tender for administering the scrapping of the
old taxis and aim to have at least 10 000 of the oldest vehicles recapitalised
by the end of 2006. We see the taxi transformation programme as a seven year
project (costing nearly R8 billion) that will ensure better vehicles, a more
formalised and orderly operating environment, better enforcement of safety and
better customer service. Government is currently gearing up for the phased
rollout of the programme and we are assessing the readiness of the relevant
institutions.
Linked to the taxi transformation programme, is the restructuring of the
road-based public transport subsidy system to include the conversion of all
interim contracts to either negotiated or tendered contracts. Currently interim
contracts account for 68% of the road-based subsidy budget and
negotiated/tendered contracts account for 32%. Black owned bus companies
accounted for 37% of the subsidy budget in 2003/04. With taxis getting a
scrapping subsidy to buy better vehicles as from 2006/07, the need to involve
the taxi industry meaningfully in road-based contract subsidies becomes
critical.
As such, the DoT is in the process of engaging the bus and taxi industries
as well as organised labour. Our preference is for tendered contracts to be the
norm in order to maximise competitive pressures and efficiency in the
sector.
Ultimately, the challenge will be for local planning authorities to
creatively utilise the strengths of the taxi industry and to plan accordingly
for services and contracts that combine the strengths of all three modes. With
this in mind, the DoT will be completing a draft Public Transport Subsidy
strategy this financial year. It is our view that high quality Integrated
Transport plans should form the bedrock on which the rationale for public
transport subsidies is based.
With regard to passenger rail, we are proceeding with the consolidation of
the three passenger railways entities, which would also include a Railway
Economic regulatory body. This consolidation process as well as the development
of a National Passenger Rail plan this year, will streamline the institutional
arrangements and will also provide the basis for decisions on recapitalising
the commuter rail fleet. Treasury has already increased the three year Medium
Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) allocations for public transport with a view
to ensuring that a public transport legacy is created in the run up to 2010 and
beyond. In this regard the DoT has already begun consulting the provinces and
local authorities and has received and adjudicated the first round of proposals
for the R3.5 billion Public Transport Infrastructure Fund linked to the 2010
World Cup.
Nevertheless, for the medium term we will continue to face challenges in
promoting greater rural public transport services, and in targeting the rural
and urban poor with public transport services that link them to opportunities.
It is with this in mind that the DoT calls upon the passenger transport sector
to think more innovatively and to perhaps not be afraid to think big and think
radical.
We need the organised public transport operators across the modes to start
talking and co-operating. We need the operators to be initiating innovative
inter-modal partnerships, to develop concepts for upgraded and expanded
services and vehicles.
Ultimately, our policy is to promote public transport over private transport
and especially in congested metropolitan areas, there is a need to expand the
provision of public transport as a more efficient alternative to single
occupant peak hour private car use. Otherwise, resources will continue to be
diverted towards already well-served urban car users and away from the
underserved majority of urban and rural public transport users.
Looking ahead, therefore, this opens up a whole range of travel demand
management challenges for planners, infrastructure managers and for operators.
We are simply going to have to extract more capacity from our existing
infrastructure networks in the future and public transport will be a key option
in this regard.
Integrated passenger transport that focuses on moving people as opposed to
maximising car throughput that focuses on People flow as opposed to Traffic
flow challenges road agencies and road departments in all spheres to move away
from being narrowly focused on construction and maintenance to being network
demand managers within the context of a municipal Integrated Transport
Plan.
Breaking with the car dominated paradigm will not be easy and will challenge
all of us. Car users and the media are entirely within reason to question any
forced shifts onto public transport and non-motorised modes that are perceived
to be unsafe, insecure, dirty, slow and unreliable. Therefore, our recent
Transport Month in its initial years is about raising awareness, generating
robust debate and listening and responding to users' requirements.
In thinking about our Passenger Transport Strategy and looking forward from
the present to the medium term, we foresee a broad agenda in the urban context
with relevant adaptations in the rural context.
The main thrusts are:
* To recover and maintain the current system;
* To ensure that the current systems do not collapse;
* To build and promote upgraded networks;
* To advance and sustain citywide mobility for all.
Expanding the coverage of the public transport, walking and cycling
network
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, this is an ambitious agenda,
which challenges all three spheres of government, consultants, professionals,
operators and the general public. We simply have to get our passenger transport
system and the land use in our cities onto a more sustainable footing.
Otherwise, we are doomed to maintaining and perpetuating a status quo in which
the majority continue to lack basic, dignified access. I therefore look forward
to working with role-players such as yourselves in turning this around.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Transport
18 April 2008
Source: Department of Transport (http://www.transport.gov.za)
