15 March 2007
Gauteng MEC for Public Transport, Roads and Works, today officially opened
the new Sandton taxi rank. It became necessary to relocate the taxi rank as it
was situated within the footprint of the Gautrain Sandton Station and this
location is critical for the construction of the Gautrain's tunnel towards
Rosebank. The closure of Rivonia Drive makes the rank on the corner of Rivonia
and 5th Avenue, the previous location of the taxi rank, inaccessible.
The new facility will be in use for approximately four years during the
construction of the Gautrain Station. Despite it being a temporary rank, the
quality of facilities and amenities match those that one would reasonably
expect to find at a permanent facility of this nature. It has a capacity of 120
recapitalised vehicles, in comparison with the old rank's capacity of just over
a 100 traditional taxi vehicles. This capacity could be further expanded up to
approximately 145 vehicles by means of a slight reconfiguration of the holding
area.
Taxi operations will from 2010, after the Gautrain Sandton Station is
completed, be accommodated within an integrated public transport
interchange/node on a surface level deck above the station and its parking
garage at ground level next to Rivonia Drive. This will ensure effective
integration of taxi operations with the Gautrain, the Gautrain bus feeder
system and the City of Johannesburg's Bus Rapid Transit network. It will be
further integrated with other land development of the City in the vicinity and
above of the Gautrain station which is to be situated 40 metres below the
ground.
In excess of 5 000 passengers used the previous rank on the corner of
Rivonia and 5th Avenue. More than 200 taxi vehicles operate about 350 daily
trips for this facility to destinations such as Johannesburg Central Business
District (CBD), Alexandra, Rabie Ridge, Tembisa, Ivory Park, Randburg and
Tshwane.
The facilities and amenities available at the temporary rank are as
follows:
* adequate shelters for passengers and recapitalised vehicles
* passenger ablution facilities
* a taxi office
* marshal's hut
* 18 new stalls for informal traders.
Some benefits of the new temporary rank to its users are:
* Adequate capacity to accommodate the existing operations and some room for
future growth. This means that there will be no more need for parking of taxis
on sidewalks of roads adjacent to the facility.
* Provision for informal traders close to pedestrian routes, and all areas,
including permanent ablution facilities are accessible to mobility impaired
persons.
The decision of where to relocate the taxi rank was done in consultation
with our partners; City of Johannesburg and the taxi operators and Sandton
central. MEC Jacobs said: "Gautrain will go a far way in meeting the Gauteng
Provincial Government's objective of building and positioning Gauteng as a
globally competitive city region. This is being done with the co-operation of
Gauteng municipalities to ensure that we build a province which is both
prosperous and able to address the needs of all its people. This partnership
approach in relocating and building the temporary Sandton taxi rank is proof of
this."
For more information, contact
Barbara Jensen
Cell: 083 600 4862
Issued by: Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works, Gauteng
Provincial Government
15 March 2007
Source: SAPA
