Potential to regularising the minibus-taxi industry : a position paper

Abstract

The minibus-taxi industry is the largest public transport mode in Cape Town and South Africa. Estimates vary but as of 2020 the National Household Transport Survey showed that minibus-taxis carried 83% of public transport passengers. Despite its importance as a mode of public transport to South African commuters the minibus-taxi remains an uncontracted and unsubsidised service, with passengers commonly citing overcrowding and safety as problems. Illegal operations, oversubscribed routes and violent competition between minibus-taxi associations are endemic. Maximising passenger numbers to generate profit (as opposed to maintaining a schedule) encourages unsafe driving. As such, minibus-taxis are generally cheaper with their fares compared to formal subsided services such as bus and rail. They also have the ability to undercut and therefore compete for passengers. Finally, the ability of taxi association leaders to extract fees from members encourages ever-expanding association membership, while government, for its part, has struggled to regulate the industry effectively. This position paper suggests ways to regularise the taxi industry, including changes to existing business models through formalisation and collective operational management, regulatory interventions and leveraging innovative technologies to collect the data needed to better understand conditions on the ground and improve decision-making. It is also important that government’s ability to enforce the law is continually strengthened. Over time, these interventions are anticipated to lead to a system which aligns incentives, regulations, and enforcement to improve outcomes.