Cape Town - Public Transport

[Mo Rush]

The good..the bad...and the ugly.

TRAINS/RAIL

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

[cmoonflyer]

To be on board the train one day , and nice shots , any more pics possible ?

[PeterSmith]

Cool pics. Any plans to develop a rapid transit system inside the city? Is it even needed, or is the commuter rail sufficient?

[Pule]

Originally Posted by PeterSmith

Cool pics. Any plans to develop a rapid transit system inside the city? Is it even needed, or is the commuter rail sufficient?

Yip, if you check in the forum you will actually get the details of the rehabilitation of the whole transport system in the country. Buses, Trains and Taxis. The government invested billions in all these.

[Mo Rush]

image hosted on flickr


In this image you can see a rail track running behind the convention centre on the edge of the harbour..this part of the light rail route proposed in 2002. Its quite cool because there is another rail line running along paarden island that is unused that could be used to connect milnerton,, blouberg etc to the waterfront using existing rail tracks..

[Mo Rush]

image hosted on flickr

[Mo Rush]

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

[Mo Rush]

R90m facelift for Cape Town station

February 06 2007 at 10:17AM

The Cape Town station precinct is to get a facelift costing up to R90-million in preparation for Fifa's 2010 World Cup, as part of a long-term development plan to transform the area into an effective transport hub, Business Day reports.

Covering more than 22 city blocks, the long-term development plan is for the station precinct to dovetail with other developments in the city's central business district and "bring the city back to the station," said Ian Scott, manager of business development at the South African Rail Commuter Corporation-Metrorail.

Scott said part of the challenge was shaking off the station's apartheid legacy and integrating the three concourses, originally designed to fit the apartheid social model of dividing races, into one transport interchange. - Sapa

[Mo Rush]

Time to Get With the Programme

Cape Argus (Cape Town)
OPINION
February 5, 2007
Posted to the web February 5, 2007

A new word, consisting of four numbers, has sneaked its way into the dictionary of South African English - and Afrikaans.

It's a noun called "twenty-ten" - or "2010" (as some newspaper sub-editors like to refer to it) - and every time it's mentioned among a certain group of people in the Western Cape, it unleashes a thick mist of negativity.

"2010" is the year in which South Africa will host the greatest sporting extravaganza on earth - Fifa's Football World Cup. Without exception, every other nation on the planet that has won the right to stage this prestigious tournament has thrown all its energies into making this month-long contest among the world's best footballers a great success.

But in the Western Cape, sad to say, there are people who are willing the efforts of government and the legions of football fans to end in failure.

They see 2010 as in a "gypsy madam's" crystal ball, predicting trouble ahead ... they want to use it as a weapon with which to scupper political policies they have never - and probably never will - come to terms with ... and they see it as a word that is synonymous with doom, gloom and failure.

As MEC for Transport and Public Works in the Western Cape, I want to say clearly, calmly and loudly: We will not fail in our efforts to ensure that our province plays its part in helping to make the tournament a success.

And I would like to appeal to the hundreds of thousands of those who believe that we have the will, the capacity and the expertise to stage World Cup matches that will wow football fans everywhere, to snatch 2010 out of the mouths of the doomsayers - to claim it as our own and to make it synonymous with "opportunity and growth".

This province will rise to the occasion to stage a special event. But, more than that, our combined efforts will leave a legacy that all South Africans will benefit from for generations to come.

Over the past few months, the Western Cape's transport infrastructure has come under the spotlight.

Critics have highlighted what they describe as a range of weaknesses (many of which centre on issues of safety and security). They claim that we do not have enough time before 2010 to right all our transport wrongs.

I disagree with this line of thinking.

I am sure that my colleagues in Community Safety will express themselves on the safety issues that have been raised.

But from a purely transport perspective, let me state quite clearly that the transport infrastructure of the Western Cape is not a basket case (as some people seem to believe).

It does have weaknesses, certainly - but we have identified these and have devised a series of plans (complete with timelines and a budget of some R7 billion) to rectify problems and to introduce innovative developments in other areas.

Over the next few years, our roads, trains, buses and minibuses will undergo a facelift that will make our transport system totally unrecognisable from what it is at present.

At this point I would like to concentrate on possibly the key player in this group - a player that I believe will be first to set the tone for a new-look Western Cape - the minibus taxi industry.

I don't believe that anyone will disagree with me when I say that this industry has often been its own worst enemy during its rollercoaster ride into South African transport history.

But now it is sitting on the lip of a new era.

Before I explain why, there is a message I would like to pass on - to those who run it, as well as those baying for its blood. And I want to be perfectly blunt about this.

The fight for turf and profit among taxi owners and drivers has been a public relations disaster for an industry that has always enjoyed close ties with the black working-class masses of the Western Cape.

For far too long, we (and especially our Cape Flats communities) have allowed ourselves to become inert witnesses to a grim story - of countless taxi wars ... of reckless driving ... of vehicles kept together with what has seemed to be pieces of string and chewing gum ... of commuters caught in the deadly crossfire of the turf wars.

But recent talks have drawn an acknowledgement from all sides that something needs to be done - and over the next few weeks, months and years something will be done to provide safe transport for the hundreds of thousands of travellers who rely on this mode of transport to take them to work, school and university - and back.

Many people have heard of government plans for "taxi recapitalisation", but not many know what it really entails.

The concept is simple: government and taxi authorities (in the Western Cape) want to create a new, safer, better minibus taxi industry.

As government, we agree that there are mitigating factors for the many problems that currently beset the industry.

Our response has been, I believe, an excellent example of out-of-the-box thinking. We have committed ourselves to drawing the minibus taxi industry into the public transport sector - together with buses.

It forms part of our ultimate aim to bring order to an unregulated, often chaotic industry.

For those who are shaking their heads in disbelief, consider this: the Golden Arrow Bus Company gets a substantial government subsidy for acting as a public transport carrier.

The minibus taxi industry, by contrast, does not get a cent.

Why?

It was born during the apartheid era, when the National Party government refused to do anything to allow it to thrive.

And although it did not thrive, it certainly grew - but in a helter-skelter way. The absence of a subsidy, coupled with the overtrading of routes, has resulted in a tendency among many operators to drive recklessly in their bid to maximise takings.

And even then, take-home pay (a percentage of the overall takings) for the majority of drivers is usually a pittance. The frightening state of disrepair of many of the vehicles is another consequence of a barely breakeven situation.

As the government, we could not allow this state of affairs to continue. Indeed, some would argue that we allowed it to continue for far too long. And so, because we believed that the problems in the industry could be fixed, we decided to act.

Under the new order, the minibus industry will be subsidised.

But where there is give there also has to be a certain amount of take - and in our negotiations we stressed to the taxi authorities that we would require certain assurances from them, with the main one being the need for them to trade in all old vehicles (which will then be scrapped).

We have undertaken to pay owners R50 000 for every old taxi handed in. In most cases, this money will be used as a deposit for a new vehicle. We accept, though, that some owners may decide to take the cash and leave the industry - and we are comfortable with this.

Only the new, bigger and safer vehicles will be registered. Our aim is to remove the old minibuses from our roads because, in effect, they will become illegal.

Our chief concerns will always revolve around passenger safety and comfort - and what taxi recapitalisation proposes addresses both areas.

Subsidisation of the industry, coupled with regulation of routes, removes the need for reckless chasing after passengers; in competition with other drivers, this has been the main cause of the often vicious fights over turf.

And, of course, the new vehicles will also be much more comfortable.

One of the results of taxi recapitalisation is that there will be fewer vehicles on the road.

To offset fears of widespread job losses, we have undertaken, together with taxi authorities in the Western Cape, to help create and grow support industries (in which the taxi industry would have a strong financial interest), such as petrol stations, and tyre distribution and mechanical centres.

We are even looking at creating opportunities in the tourism industry.

Over the next few months, we will continue with the implementation of training schemes for owners, drivers and the ubiquitous gaartjies.

We are as keen as the key players themselves to see it become a customer-orientated industry - to "grow the Cape" and make it a "home for all".

I acknowledge that we have taken on an enormous task, a task that some might argue is fraught with risk. But it is our duty to act innovatively and decisively in order to realise our vision.

I accept that certain members of our Western Cape communities will always oppose what this government does - even when they have absolutely no understanding of the various interventions that we are trying to put in place. They have their reasons for acting the way they do.

But hundreds of thousands of residents of this province are as willing to give our plans a chance as we are to listen to their suggestions and constructive criticism.

To them I say: Let us continue to build a transport system that all of us can be proud of.

[Mo Rush]

Print this story | Close window
<A HREF="http://a.coza.com/event.ng/Type=click&FlightID=21228&AdID=37633&TargetID=4360&Segments=432,433,434,435,436,437,438,439,459,826,3094,3543,4027,4134,4170,4394,4441,4475&Targets=2894,3380,4041,4360,4334,4249,4309&Values=30,46,50,60,72,84,100,110,150,208,283,921,2412,2474,2513,2680,2828,2877,2880,2884,2885,3283,3309,3315,3316,3317,3786,3799,4907,4995,5108&RawValues=TARGET%2CMGnBrN.Artcl&Redirect=http://www.outsurance.co.za/default.asp%3fID=153&source=mandg&cr=564911102_120x600&cid=11" target="_top"><IMG SRC="http://banner.coza.com/2006/mg/banners/7319226_120x600.gif" WIDTH=120 HEIGHT=600 BORDER=0></A>
Taxi scrapping approaches 1 000 mark
Cape Town, South Africa
15 February 2007 05:07
Almost a thousand taxis have so far been scrapped under the government's recapitalisation programme, Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Thursday.

He was speaking at a ceremony at a sports stadium in Belhar, Cape Town, marking the launch of the programme in the Western Cape.

According to the Taxi Scrapping Authority (TSA), a total of R49-million has so far been paid out in terms of the R50 000 scrapping allowances, and another R32-million will be paid for the 658 applications currently being processed by the TSA.

The bulk of the vehicles are from the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, the first two provinces to launch the programme at the end of last year.

The government estimates there are about 120 000 taxis on the country's roads, and Radebe told taxi operators in March 2006 that he intended to have 10 000 of them scrapped by December the same year.

"About 981 have been physically scrapped," he told the South African Press Association (Sapa) at Thursday's ceremony, where hundreds of taxi operators and drivers watched the first Western Cape taxi, a white Toyota minibus, being compressed into a lump of metal.

"I'm happy with the rate or progress taking into account the challenges that we are facing in the taxi industry.

"And I do hope that when all the infrastructure of the taxi agencies is in place in all the provinces, we are going to be accelerating the process of scrapping."

He said the programme is "definitely" on target for scrapping at least 80% of taxis by the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

The government has committed R7,7-billion to the programme.

In a speech, Radebe repeated President Thabo Mbeki's State of the Nation warning that the government will not be bullied into abandoning the recapitalisation programme.

"No amount of intimidation and violence will stop up from forging ahead," he said.

"I call upon all South Africans to support this programme with dedication and determination."

South African National Taxi Council president AJ Mthembu said the council is negotiating with manufacturers of the new vehicles for better prices, but it is no use having cheaper vehicles if the government does not bring the industry into the public transport subsidy system, along with bus operators, immediately.

"The price of such vehicles will remain a challenge to our operators on the basis that we continue to service the poorest of the poor in our country," he said.

"And as a result even the price that we charge to our commuters is not the price that would enable us to be able ... to pay for each instalment.

"The issue of ... the subsidy can no longer be postponed, but needs to be effected immediately so it goes hand-in-hand with the new vehicles."

At the ceremony, a set of keys to a spanking new Mercedes 17-seater Sprinter was handed over to the first beneficiary under the programme in the Western Cape, Khayelitsha operator Alfred Gagela.

Gagela told Sapa he had been given a R50 000 scrapping allowance without having handed in an old vehicle.

He was also unaware of what his monthly repayment on the new vehicle would be, but felt he could manage up to R5 000.

TSA representative Thulani Kubheka said Gagela did in fact hand in a vehicle on Wednesday, and that it was inspected, deregistered and retained by the TSA.

"The vehicle he's getting R50 000 for, he doesn't have in his possession," Kubheka said.

Scrapping has so far been launched in five provinces. It has still to take off in Limpopo (next week), Gauteng, Mpumalanga and North West. -- Sapa

[Mo Rush]

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

[Mo Rush]

this is emabarrassing.
image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

[Mo Rush]

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

[Mo Rush]

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

[Mo Rush]

image hosted on flickr

[Mo Rush]

CITY LAUNCHES NEW SOUTHERN LINE TOURISM ROUTE

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

image hosted on flickr

MEDIA RELEASE
NO. 91/2007
3 APRIL 2007


CITY LAUNCHES NEW SOUTHERN LINE TOURISM ROUTE

The City of Cape Town has launched a new pilot tourism route, based on rail transport.

The new Southern Line Tourism Route, stretching from the Cape Town Central Business District (CBD) to Simon’s Town, is a partnership pilot project between the City of Cape Town, Cape Town Tourism and SARail Commuter Corporation Metrorail.

There are six stations on the new route which offer various tourist attractions that can be reached within a two kilometre radius of each station. The stations are Cape Town, Observatory, Newlands, Muizenberg, Kalk Bay and Simon’s Town. Each of these stations will display maps of the area, indicating tourist attractions and services.

Information brochures about the new route will be distributed via all Cape Town Tourism Visitor Information Centres across the metropole.

Special Metroplus train tickets or tourist rail passes, known as ‘Hop on, Hop off’ tickets, allow unlimited train trips between Cape Town and Simon’s Town Stations for the day of validity at a cost of R25-00. The tickets are valid between 08:30 and 16:00 and can be purchased at participating stations or at the Cape Town Tourism Visitor Information Centre in Burg Street, Cape Town.

[Mo Rush]

Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System
---------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 13 Apr 2007
Title: SARCC to spend R5 million on rail safety
---------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------

By Bongani Mlangeni; tel: (012) 314 2404

The South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC) will spend almost R5 million this year on its rail safety awareness campaign.

Speaking to reporters in Johannesburg Thursday, SARCC's Group Executive for Operations Compliance, Enos Ngutshane said the campaign would be a year-long program, themed "Working together to accelerate rail safety."

"Theft of non-ferrous metal in particular overhead traction and signal cables, train doors and other valuable train and signaling components are exposing the business to unacceptably high safety, security and punctuality risks," Mr Ngutshane added.

Every year, the SARCC spends almost R20 million to repair properties damaged as a result of arson, vandalism and theft of railway assets.

A National Commuter Newspaper to focus on providing safety information to commuters is to be launched in May.

The campaign is one of the SARCC's initiatives to make rail users aware of the dangers of train surfing, open doors while the train is in motion and of pedestrians crossing over railway lines.

"Our efforts will be strengthened as we work with motorists and communities residing next to level crossings.

"We do all these to provide maximum safety and ensure that commuters travel comfortably.

The SARCC will embark on road shows, safety workshops and media campaigns to educate the public and initiate dialogue on rail safety.

"During our turn around strategy we intend reducing crime levels by 15 percent and further improve safety levels by 30 percent," Mr Ngutshane said.

The SARCC's work was motivated by the impact made by the establishment of the South African Police Service Railway Police Unit.

Its Cape Town network had already seen a 31.6 percent reduction in the level of crime on and around trains.

"We are still on track to have more than 5 000 rail police in time for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

"They will add to more than 6 000 metro rail guards deployed in all regions to respond to safety hindrances," he said.

Mr Ngutshane said the work that has been done by the company's safety ambassadors, including former learners who used to do train surfing would also be strengthened.

"Our investments of almost R500 000 towards the education of 30 former staff-riders over the next three years is a living testimony that we are a people centered company," he added. -BuaNews

[Mo Rush]

Cape Town could still build a rail link between the airport and the city before the 2010 World Cup if it is a raised monorail and if the city moves fast enough on the project, says a local private consortium.

[DennisRodman]

is this in CapeTown?

[Mo Rush]

"Towards 2010: A green way to fund our city's growth"


By Theuns Botha

The grand development plans for the City of Cape Town leading up to and beyond the 2010 World Cup present two immediate challenges. First - how do we finance these extensive developmental plans and, secondly - how do we develop our city in a way that is least damaging to the natural environment?

We all acknowledge the need for an integrated approach to current and future development of our city in which transportation is part of a larger focus on sustainable development that also addresses housing, land use and economic development.

With that in mind, it is important to understand that current infrastructure, investment and development decisions have a major impact on future pollution rates, where implementing sustainable solutions can now advance multiple goals.

When it comes to sourcing the financing for that development, the city cannot expect to achieve this monumental task solely on its allotted budget from the province's coffers and municipal revenue.

All the developmental plans for our city mean nothing without the appropriate funding. The public outcry following the 15% rates increase and the city's assertion that we are on the verge of an infrastructural breakdown place the issue of funding for development and infrastructure in the spotlight.

In reality, we have barely enough funding to operate and manage the infrastructure that already exists, never mind the developmental plans for our city beyond 2010. It is wholly unrealistic to imagine that the city's ratepayers and taxpayers should foot the bill for the extensive development that is envisaged.

It is time that the city and the province start thinking of alternative and innovative ways of increasing our funding sources. It is time that we start thinking outside of conventional methods of securing funds for development, and I am not talking about introducing fuel levies and tourism levies, which further burden the taxpaying public.

I am proposing that we become serious players in the emissions trading market, and in particular carbon credits trading.

Carbon credits trading is a relatively unknown market mechanism which can yield not only the development plans we aspire to, such as a revamped and modernised transport system, but also development that is environmentally sustainable. Climate change has undoubtedly become the most pressing environmental issue today, and in response to the ever-worsening crisis, countries have embarked on massive campaigns to address the issue.

Carbon trading was developed as a way to deal with climate change and assist developing countries in developing in a manner which will not further erode the environment.

The global climate change talks have focused on facilitating the transition of developing countries' current development path from one modelled after the industrialised nations to a clean and energy-efficient paradigm. The Kyoto Protocol is an amendment to the UN International Treaty on Climate Change, which assigns mandatory emission limitations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to signatory nations.

Under the protocol, ratifying countries agree to submit themselves to the obligation to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitric oxide and ash.



The concept underlying carbon trading is straightforward. Carbon emissions of industries and industrialised nations are limited and those that meet the requirements are allowed to sell any unused allocations on the open market. Those that require more credits are free to buy any unused allocations.

Thus, a developing country can offer its credits in return for investment in its development projects. Thus, social, environmental, technological and economic goals are achieved through market mechanisms. Clean development mechanism (CDM) projects allow companies or industrialised countries to invest in projects in developing countries. In return for this investment, carbon credits are received by the investor in the industrialised country.

However, a key clause in the Kyoto Protocol is that all CDM projects in developing countries must contribute to sustainable development goals in the host country and must not generate any negative environmental externalities.

Next year will see the beginning of the second phase of the European Commission's programme to reduce emissions. This phase will run until 2012 and will coincide with the Kyoto commitment to reduce emissions by 8% from 1990 levels. Countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, Switzerland and Austria, which are already ahead in their mandated domestic emissions reductions, are investing abroad in project-based reductions under the CDM projects.

As a city we have a five-year window of opportunity starting in 2008 to attract some form of benefit from this trading mechanism.

To gauge the extent of the economic benefits involved consider this: Europe traded one billion tons of carbon dioxide to the value of E18 billion in 2006 alone. Looking at the number of CDM projects running in countries such as Brazil, India and China, it is clear that South Africa has been slow to take up the challenge.

As of February 13 this year, 500 CDM projects were registered worldwide. Of these, 167 are registered in India, 88 in Brazil and 37 in India. Disappointingly, only six CDM projects are currently registered in the whole of South Africa. Interestingly, 900 more projects worldwide are in the process of being registered. A staggering 80% of those are based in China alone.

Of the six CDM projects running in South Africa, three are in the Western Cape. The benefits of increasing our market share of carbon credits trading are three-fold: a lower emissions benefit which is environmentally sustainable; meeting the cost-effectiveness and energy-saving targets; and the increase of funding for development projects.

In Cape Town, transportation is the largest contributor to air emissions in the city, while the modernisation of our transport infrastructure has been earmarked as a critical project for 2010 and beyond.

Carbon credit trading is an interesting opportunity for the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape in general to tap into a large revenue-generating scheme while contributing towards the fight against climate change.

Bogota, the capital of Colombia, has begun a process of modernising its transport system under the auspices of a Japanese CDM project.



The example of the Bogota transport system upgrade through carbon credit trading could be extremely helpful in the search for alternative sources of funding for developing our transport infrastructure into the best of its kind in the world.

During the 1990s, Bogota was plagued by serious transportation problems, including neglect of road maintenance. While the largest portion of the budget for transport was being spent on road-widening and flyovers, the critical traffic situation was not being adequately addressed.

According to various commentators, this situation was compounded by other critical urban dilemmas, such as rising pollution levels, high accident rates, increasing population, a high crime rate, the growth of informal settlements, poor infrastructure and an absence of public spaces. In essence, the situation was not very different from that in present-day Cape Town.

Bogota was approached by the government of Japan as part of a CDM initiative to introduce an energy-efficient solution to the prevailing transport crisis. With the support of the Japanese government, the city created a more comprehensive transport and pollution control plan, which included the institution of a rapid transit bus system - known as the TransMilenio - encouraging the use of bicycles and discouraging the use of private vehicles.

The bus system is expected to be completed only in 2016, but it already uses intricate systems such as segregated bus lanes, rapid boarding and alighting; clean, secure and comfortable stations; efficient pre-board ticketing, and priority for buses over private vehicles.

The management control and planning is based on a public-private enterprise initiative. Essentially, infrastructure facilities such as corridor, stations and garages are handled by the government, while operational activities such as equipment and ticketing are handled by the private sector, creating a favourable situation for both parties.

Since the project was instituted at the end of the last millennium, the system has grown to carry more than 875 000 passengers a day in more than 500 buses.

However, it is the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that is astonishing. In Bogota, transport's contribution to carbon emissions has been cut by more than 40%, although the project is still in its infancy.

The TransMilenio system re-duces greenhouse gas emissions through more efficient transport and the partial substitution of private transport by high-quality public transport. This has also resulted in more than 2 000 public service vehicles being scrapped or removed from the public transport system.

In addition, the city stands to gain millions through the selling of carbon credits in energy efficiency initiatives. With the success of the first phase of the project, the Netherlands has realised its financial viability and has partly financed the second phase of the project under the CDM umbrella.

According to official estimates, the cost of instituting the system is considerably less than that of systems introduced in, for example, China and Japan. In fact, the total investment cost of building the road network stood at $5 million a kilometre, transporting between 35 000 and 45 000 passengers an hour.

The system is envisaged to be completed in 2016, at which time the total investment is expected to be $1.97 billion. The system is being funded from the Bogota mayor's office, the World Bank and private-sector stakeholders. What is more exciting is the fact that the system is completely maintained from ticket revenue, with no subsidies provided.

With the approach of the World Cup, it seems that Cape Town has a significant challenge to meet. But at the same time, it could address climate change and fulfil its 2010 transportation mandate and many other development plans, much in the way that Bogota has done, by stepping into the global carbon credits trading market.

All we need is the political will and buy-in from all sectors.

# Theuns Botha is provincial leader of the DA, Western Cape, and the DA spokesman on finance in the Western Cape provincial legislature.

Published on the web by Cape Argus on May 1, 2007. © Cape Argus 2007. All rights reserved.