Solutions to public transport challenges

Abstract

South Africa has gone an extra mile as far as the provision of public transport is concerned when comparing it with other Southern African development countries. A large amount of capital expenditure has been channeled to developments in the public transport sector so that South Africans gets affordable, safe and efficient means of transport. Transparency and accountability in state owned organisations is also important because it reduces levels of corruption and unnecessary costs. Additional costs resulting from poor service delivery result in high logistics costs which burden the poor. Considering that the majority of South Africans travel long distances to work especially in towns and cities, it is important to provide passenger trains and buses which are more efficient than private cars so that cost of travelling to work becomes low and it will not constitute a larger proportion of their income. Adapting to current technological changes is important because it makes the department of transport more efficient. The use of technology enables the design of new engines which consume less fuel or use other alternatives. Therefore using technology encourages sustainability and a shift from non-renewable to renewable resources. People living in rural areas are still facing challenges travelling to schools, hospitals and shopping centers. However the provision of community transport in hospitals and schools enables easy mobility of people. Considering South Africa as a case study, this paper provides the state of public transport in South Africa and possible solutions to address the challenges.