Gauteng Public Transport, Roads and Works on High Occupancy Vehicle and
car free day during Transport Month

24 October 2007

"Congestion management must be people driven, gradually becoming a new
culture of travel." Last week ending on 20 October 2007, saw to the conclusion
of the piloting of the HOV Lane on the M1 North between Columbine Avenue and
the Crown Interchange, in the City of Johannesburg.

This also culminated in the hosting of the Car Free Day Concert at the
Johannesburg Stadium, on Saturday, 20 October 2007, wherein performing artists
used their art form to give more meaning to a deepening of democracy and public
participation. At this concert we reaffirmed our collective commitment to
further build a partnership for a better public transport system and to also
ensure a reclaim of public open space by pedestrians and to also help save the
environment.

Many people participated passionately in both the debates and the piloting
of the HOV lanes in our province and as government, we are confident that this
represents the beginning of a new culture of travel on the roads. However, a
lot of work still lies ahead in our drive to ensure that our roads continue to
provide the necessary support for socio-economic growth and development
programmes.

We also believe that congestion management should be the joint
responsibility of government and communities. It must be people driven.
Therefore, one of the biggest challenges is that of creating sufficient
consciousness of the negative effects of traffic congestion on the economy. As
a rapidly urbanising province, we also need to learn from the experiences of
major cities in the developed world and also localise those transport solutions
that are relevant to our urban and rural circumstances.

International experience

In the City of Seoul, in South Korea, car owners have been successfully
practicing a staggered use of their private vehicles since their country’s
joint hosting of the 2002 Federation International Football Association (Fifa)
World Cup, using the alphabetical order of car registration plates to
alternatively leave cars at home. This practice has since become a permanent
way of life in that part of the world, helping to significantly reduce traffic
congestion. This indicates high levels of community awareness and public
ownership of the campaign for efficient mobility on the roads.

The City of Ontario, in Canada, first started implementing the HOV Lane more
than seven years ago on the country’s second busiest highway, known as the 401.
This encouraged many motorists to club themselves into ridesharing schemes in
order to enjoy the benefits of HOV Lanes. By 2005, nearly 40% of road users
were ridesharing on Canada's major freeways such as the 401, 403 and 404.

The implementation of the HOV Lanes is associated with the following
benefits:

* They make existing freeways more efficient and usable.
* They reduce travelling time by lessening the number of cars on
freeways.
* They help reduce the cost of fuel.
* They help in promoting public transport.
* They help move as many people as possible during peak periods.
* They reduce the demand for new freeways, helping government to redirect
resources at the most pressing needs of our communities.
* They promote interaction between people who share the ride.

The Car Free Day campaign

This year also saw the Republic of China celebrating its first Car Free Day
campaign, adding to more than 1 500 participating towns and cities around the
world, in the campaign. Back in our province, sidewalks and pavements are being
taken over by motorcars, a sign that pedestrians are fast losing their
constitutionally entrenched right to enjoy public open space and to live in a
people friendly environment. Only a collective change in behaviour in car use
can help us achieve the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. This campaign is not
anti-car. It is pro-environment and also supportive of economic growth.

Response programmes to address attendant challenges

The HOV Lane is now official government policy, as officially amended in the
National Road Traffic Act in the year 2006. Therefore, the roll out of
infrastructure development programmes will, henceforth, take into account the
need for public transport friendly initiatives with a positive bias towards
high occupancy in order to give more meaning to sustainable mobility in our
province, and our country.

Much work is being done to soon introduce a pilot subsidy scheme for taxi
commuters, in Gauteng Province, considering that taxis carry the majority of
public transport users in the province. This is, however, also based on the
need for a demonstrable effort by public transport operators, to significantly
improve the quality of service in the public transport industry. Our people
deserve better.

For more information contact:
Alfred Nhlapo
Tel: 011 355 7532
Cell: 083 376 8496

Issued by: Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works, Gauteng
Provincial Government
24 October 2007