Developing the integrated rapid public transport network (IRPTN) for the Ethekwini municipal area

Abstract

Paper presented at the 30th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 11-14 July 2011 "Africa on the Move", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.

1 INTRODUCTION Public Transport in the South African cities is characterized by a myriad of problems emanating from the historical inequalities of the apartheid city structure. It's in this context that Government's Public Transport Action Agenda has been crafted to redefine and restructure the current disjointed and unresponsive system. The National Department of Transport has set out a process to assist in translating the public transport vision articulated in the NLTA (National Land Transport Act) which consists of a three phased strategy as follows; Accelerated Recovery and Catalytic Projects (2007-2010) Promote and Deliver Basic Networks (2010-2014) Advance and Sustain Accessible Networks (2014-2020) The above strategy is aimed towards the development of a new fully integrated public transport system incorporating all modes within a formal contract based public transport system. Inherent in the strategy is the need to incorporate the existing minibus taxi industry into the new restructured system which implies a formalization of the industry and eligibility to benefit from available public transport subsidies currently restricted to commuter rail and certain tendered commuter bus contracts. The key objectives of restructuring the Public Transport (PT) system are: To provide an adequately frequent service for passengers in terms of national government policy. To ensure a more reliable service through the operation of monitored contracts To eliminate the uncertainty inherent in non-contracted sewices and to reduce duplication and efficiencies 2 BACKGROUND A number of different public transport restructuring efforts have been initiated over the years in order to redress fundamental public transport burning issues namely: One of the first initiatives driven at the municipal level was the Fundamental Restructuring of Public Transport Project (FRPT), which was completed in 2001.