The fundamental restructuring of Durban's public transport system : an overview

Abstract

Paper presented at the 20th Annual South African Transport Conference 16 - 20 July 2001 "Meeting the transport challenges in Southern Africa", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. ABSTRACT: The National Department of Transport (NDOT) has recently formulated policies that significantly change the way transportation is to be planned and administered in South Africa. The NDOT, in partnership with the other spheres of government, often tests some of these policy changes through pilot projects in selected major cities to lead the way and gain valuable insight into implementation issues. The Fundamental Restructuring of Durban’s Public Transport Network is one such project. It was started in April 1999 and is due to be completed in late 2001, and is a joint venture between the National and Provincial Departments of Transport and the Durban Metropolitan Council. This paper gives a broad overview of the project and sets out: - the nature and necessity of the project - the underlying principles and logic of the project - the management of the project - the specific objectives of the project - the main challenges of the project It should be noted that this paper is part of a series of papers that cover the entire project. This paper gives an overview of the project. The other papers which deal with specific tasks are as follows: - Development of a least cost strategy for Durban's Public Transport System - The Fundamental Restructuring of Durban’s PT System: The User Preference Study - Towards tools and measures for the creation and sustenance of a land-use regime in support of the high priority public transport network. It should also be noted that this project has yet to be completed, and therefore the final outcome cannot be fully reported on in this paper.