City ‘Gautrain’ plan

Durban is set to get its own Gautrain. This is one part of the wide-reaching public transport plan that will soon be officially tabled at the eThekwini municipality and followed by a full-scale public participation process.

The new head of the eThekwini Transport Authority, Thami Manyathi, said that the plan was “90 percent complete” and would be tabled by May.

In his first media interview since taking office five months ago, he explained how the Gautrain concept, a new bus operator for Durban Transport and a rapid bus transport system formed part of the massive integrated rapid public transport plan that was set to change the public transport system in Durban.

Manyathi said the aim was to have residents reduce their use of private vehicles in favour of public transport, such as buses, taxis and trains.

He said that the new plan tried to sort through the disparate maze in the present transport system and reduce the congestion in the region by offering residents an “attractive and efficient”, well-oiled public transport system.

On the cards is a rapid rail network, much like the Gautrain, which Manyathi said was planned between Umhlanga and King Shaka International Airport.

The Gautrain in Joburg links Sandton with the OR Tambo International Airport, with the journey taking less than 15 minutes.

“A rail link from the airport to a central business district is an attractive idea,” said Manyathi.

He added that, apart from adopting the public transport plan, one of his key concerns was finalising the bus operator for Durban Transport, which he hoped would be complete by July.

Remant Alton, which used to operate the service, pulled the plug in 2009, claiming it was financially unable to run the city’s 600 buses.

Tansnat Africa has been running the service since July 2009 on a month-to-month basis.

Manyathi said the city was hoping to get the green light to go to tender for the new operator soon.

He explained that there would be three contracts - for the northern, southern and central areas - which would span three years.

“This will be manageable for most operators,” he said.

Once the public transport plan was finalised, the eThekwini Transport Authority would look at issuing a 12-year contract.

“There will be about 120 new buses,” said Manyathi.

“We will take out some of the oldest ones, upgrade the depots, install new e-ticketing systems and involve the minibus owners in the scheduled and subsidised services.”

The creation of the e-ticketing system was under way, and this would allow the city to track where commuters boarded and exited the buses, facilitating the use of different modes of transport and cutting out cash as a means of payment.

This would be ready by September, in time for Durban Transport’s new operators.

Parallel to this, the city would also be expanding the public transport lanes to the outer suburbs.

The public transport plan outlined the key transport corridors that link the bigger suburbs - such as Pinetown, Westville, south Durban basin, Umhlanga, Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu - with the city.

“It will link residential areas with areas of employment,” he said.

Services would be improved throughout the transport network, and the operating hours would be extended to around midnight.

The rail mode would be complemented by transport services that would include larger vehicles, such as those used in the Bus Rapid Transport system in Joburg.

A park-and-ride system would be developed, similar to the national transport system used during the World Cup.

“With a new public transport system, you won’t be limited to parking at shopping centres, there will be more dedicated spaces in the region,” said Manyathi.

Taxi operators had also been part of the plan’s development.

He said that the public transport plan was expected to be released in May and the public would then have an opportunity to comment on it. - Independent on Saturday