Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 7-10 July 2014 "Leading Transport into the Future", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.
South Africans believe that transport is one of the most critical issues today and is
surpassed only by education and health. Public opinion plays a vital role in a democracy,
but despite public participation being entrenched in the Constitution, service delivery
protests seem to indicate that the government is out of touch with the needs of South
Africans. In response to this, the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (Africa), ITLS
(Africa), conducted a survey of 1,000 adults across South Africa in 2012 to gauge opinions
on transport issues. Interest in the inaugural State of Transport Opinion Poll resulted in the
implementation of an annual survey which seeks to provide a reliable indicator of South
Africans’ ongoing attitudes towards transport. The purpose of this paper is to compare the
results of the 2012 and 2013 surveys to establish current public opinion on transport
matters and determine whether this is changing. The top transport issues identified by
respondents were quality of roads, public transport and taxi related issues. This research
also highlights a loss of confidence in the ability of national and local authorities to deliver
safe, effective and reliable transport services. The 2013 survey shows that private cars
remain the main mode for commuter transport, whilst taxis remain the dominant form of
public transport. This appears to indicate a disconnection between commuter needs and
transport policy implementation.
