the weekend argus

1
N EWS OCTOBER 24 2015 10 WITH THE WEEKEND ARGUS AND THE PRESIDENT HOTEL Prizes valued at R7120 up for grabs! WIN With Halloween slowly approaching, Rainbow Academy has planned for the biggest event of the year – the Halloween Gala Dinner on Saturday 31 October, hosted at the President Hotel. Purchase a ticket for R1000 and you may have the opportunity to share a table with Marc Lottering or Wilmot James! For all you major rugby fans we’ve organised that the fnal rugby match be played on big screens for your viewing pleasure. For more information contact Denay Willie on 073 388 9570 or email [email protected] www.presidenthotel.co.za RULES Employees of Independent Newspapers, the sponsors & their agents, or any company associated with the competition & their immediate families are not eligible to enter. Prizes are not transferable or redeemable for cash. The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Receipt of entries will not be acknowledged. The entrant accepts that entry to the competition does not constitute a contract or any form of legal commitment between the entrant and the participating newspapers. The participating newspapers shall not assume liability for any ambiguity, error, oversight or omission whether negligent or otherwise which may be committed by any employee of the participating newspapers, their agents or associates in respect of this competition. The winner must produce a copy of the competition days newspaper. Each sms costs R1.50 WHAT YOU CAN WIN One Night stay in the Hotel for two 30 min Back, Neck & Shoulder massage 2 x tickets to the Rainbow Academy Halloween Gala Dinner TO ENTER, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION: When is the Halloween Gala Dinner? SMS WA, your answer, name, surname and email address to 34445. Competition opens 7am today & closes 9am Monday 26 October 2015. www.humanjobs.co.za Human Communications 122538 NŽƟĮĐĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ PƵďůŝĐ OƵƚƌĞĂĐŚ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ SƚƌĂƚĞŐŝĐ EŶǀŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚĂů AƐƐĞƐƐŵĞŶƚ ĨŽƌ SŚĂůĞ GĂƐ DĞǀĞůŽƉŵĞŶƚ TŚĞ DĞƉĂƌƚŵĞŶƚ ŽĨ EŶǀŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚĂů AīĂŝƌƐ ŚĂƐ ĂƉƉŽŝŶƚĞĚ Ă ƉƌŽũĞĐƚ ƚĞĂŵ ĐŽŶƐŝƐƟŶŐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ CŽƵŶĐŝů ĨŽƌ SĐŝĞŶƟĮĐ ĂŶĚ IŶĚƵƐƚƌŝĂů RĞƐĞĂƌĐŚ ƚŚĞ SŽƵƚŚ AĨƌŝĐĂŶ NĂƟŽŶĂů BŝŽĚŝǀĞƌƐŝƚLJ IŶƐƟƚƵƚĞ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ CŽƵŶĐŝů ĨŽƌ GĞŽƐĐŝĞŶĐĞ ƚŽ ƵŶĚĞƌƚĂŬĞ Ă SƚƌĂƚĞŐŝĐ EŶǀŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚĂů AƐƐĞƐƐŵĞŶƚ ĨŽƌ ƐŚĂůĞ ŐĂƐ ĚĞǀĞůŽƉŵĞŶƚ AƐ ƉĂƌƚ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ŽƵƚƌĞĂĐŚ ƉƌŽĐĞƐƐ ƚŚƌĞĞ ƉƵďůŝĐ ďƌŝĞĮŶŐ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶƐ ĂŶĚ ŽŶĞ ƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌĞĚ ƐƚĂŬĞŚŽůĚĞƌ ǁŽƌŬƐŚŽƉ ŚĂǀĞ ďĞĞŶ ĂƌƌĂŶŐĞĚ TŚĞLJ ĂƌĞ ĂƐ ĨŽůůŽǁƐ PƌŽǀŝŶĐĞ T ŽǁŶ VĞŶƵĞ DĂƚĞ ĂŶĚ TŝŵĞ PĂƌƟĐŝƉĂƟŽŶ EĂƐƚĞƌŶ Cape GƌĂĂīͲ RĞŝŶĞƚ MĂƐŝnjĂŬŚĞ CŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ HĂůů BĂĂƌƚŵĂŶ SƋƵĂƌĞ MŽŶĚĂLJ ϵ NŽǀĞŵďĞƌ ϮϬϭϱ ϭϲϬϬ Ͳ ϭϵϬϬ PƵďůŝĐ ďƌŝĞĮŶŐ NŽƌƚŚĞƌŶ Cape VŝĐƚŽƌŝĂ WĞƐƚ VŝĐƚŽƌŝĂ WĞƐƚ T ŽǁŶ HĂůů CŚƵƌĐŚ SƚƌĞĞƚ TƵĞƐĚĂLJ ϭϬ NŽǀĞŵďĞƌ ϮϬϭϱ ϭϲϬϬ Ͳ ϭϵϬϬ PƵďůŝĐ ďƌŝĞĮŶŐ WĞƐƚĞƌŶ Cape BĞĂƵĨŽƌƚ WĞƐƚ RƵƐƚĚĞŶĞ CŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ HĂůů ĚĞ VƌŝĞƐ SƚƌĞĞƚ WĞĚŶĞƐĚĂLJ ϭϭ NŽǀĞŵďĞƌ ϮϬϭϱ ϭϲϬϬ Ͳ ϭϵϬϬ PƵďůŝĐ ďƌŝĞĮŶŐ WĞƐƚĞƌŶ Cape Cape T ŽǁŶ T Ž ďĞ ĐŽŶĮƌŵĞĚ ǀŝĂ ĞͲŵĂŝů ǁŝƚŚ ƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌĞĚ ƐƚĂŬĞŚŽůĚĞƌƐ FƌŝĚĂLJ ϭϯ NŽǀĞŵďĞƌ ϮϬϭϱ ϭϬϯϬ Ͳ ϭϱϯϬ RĞŐŝƐƚĞƌĞĚ ƐƚĂŬĞŚŽůĚĞƌ SŚŽƵůĚ LJŽƵ ǁŝƐŚ ƚŽ ƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌ ĂƐ Ă ŐĞŶĞƌĂů ƐƚĂŬĞŚŽůĚĞƌ Žƌ ƚŽ ƌĞŐŝƐƚĞƌ ƚŽ ĂƩĞŶĚ ƚŚĞ CĂƉĞ T ŽǁŶ ǁŽƌŬƐŚŽƉ ƉůĞĂƐĞ ǀŝƐŝƚ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŽũĞĐƚ ǁĞďƐŝƚĞ Ăƚ ŚƩƉƐĞĂƐŐĚĐƐŝƌ ĐŽnjĂ FŽƌ ŵŽƌĞ ŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶ ŽŶ ƚŚĞ ŽƵƚƌĞĂĐŚ ƉƌŽŐƌĂŵŵĞ ƉůĞĂƐĞ ĐŽŶƐƵůƚ ƚŚĞ ƉƌŽũĞĐƚ ǁĞďƐŝƚĞ ;ǁŚĞƌĞ ƋƵĞƐƟŽŶƐ ĐĂŶ ďĞ ĂƐŬĞĚ ĞůĞĐƚƌŽŶŝĐĂůůLJͿ Žƌ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ MƐ MĞŐĂŶ ĚĞ JĂŐĞƌ Žƌ Mƌ AŶĚŝůĞ DůƵĚůĂ Ăƚ ;ϬϮϭͿ ϴϴϴͲϮϰϴϮ Derailed locomotive still lies next to rail tracks DUNCAN GUY TRAIN enthusiast Hardy Wil- son was shocked when a bird- ing trip in the Northern Cape revealed that a locomotive and carriages that derailed two months ago in the Kimberley area are still lying beside the tracks. The locomotive is reportedly one of the Spanish- manufactured Afro 4000 diesel locomotives purchased for R600 million by former Passen- ger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) chief executive Lucky Montana, who was fired in July. The trains were deemed unsuitable for South Africa’s railway infrastructure. The locomotive and car- riage will be removed only early next month, according to Prasa spokesman Victor Dlamini. “Two months is ludicrous,” said Hardy, convener of the Railway History Society in Durban. “It should be cleared after one or two weeks.” Security guards at the scene chased him away as he tried to take photographs of the wreck. The Shosholoza Meyl inter- city train, which derailed on August 18, was carrying pas- sengers from Joburg to Cape Town. It had been speeding while moving from the main- line to a newly constructed line, according to the prelimi- nary investigation report by the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR). It found that the accident was a result of “over-speeding on a temporarily speed restricted section” – 81km/h in a 30km/h zone between Modderrivier and Heuning- neskloof stations. The preliminary report found that Transnet Freight Rail failed to communicate with Prasa, which runs the Shosholoza Meyl, about the speed restriction. As a result, the section man- ager failed to communicate with the train driver about the speed restriction. Prasa’s Dlamini said this week that the removal of the rolling stock could take place only next month, because the line had to be shut down during recovery. “The first week of Novem- ber offers the first window of opportunity to undertake recovery and removal.” He added a joint board of inquiry between the track oper- ator and train operator had been set up. It was expected that its work would be completed by the end of next month. SPANISH TRAIN: A locomotive from a fleet bought at great expense from Spain stands partially covered after it derailed pulling the Cape Town-bound Shosholoza Meyl from Joburg in August. PICTURE: HARDY WILSON One year on, residents still call for answers to Senzo Meyiwa’s murder NONI MOKATI ONE year on from the fatal night that soccer legend Senzo Meyiwa was killed, community members of Mzamo in Spruitview still believe something is being covered up. To date no one has been convicted for Meyiwa’s murder, which took place at Kelly Khumalo’s family home on Kutlwanong Street. Some resi- dents feel police need to go back to question those who were in the house that night. Those there on the night appar- ently included Khumalo, who was Meyiwa’s girlfriend, her two chil- dren, Khumalo’s mother Ntombi, two of Meyiwa’s friends, Khumalo’s sis- ter Zandi. and Zandi’s boyfriend Longwe Twala. “Someone knows something and needs to come out with the truth. Peo- ple don’t believe that Senzo could have just been shot for a cellphone. I still don’t buy the robbery story,” said resident Thabani Msibi. Meanwhile, the house where Meyiwa was shot today stands empty. A neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said no one had been in or out of the property for months. The neighbour remembered the night of the murder clearly, saying that when shots rang out she thought it was the boy next door banging a broomstick against his shack walls. Only when she heard people screaming did she realise something was wrong. And that’s when she heard the news that the Bafana cap- tain and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper had been shot after an apparent scuf- fle with robbers. “He was carried into a car. I saw his feet... it was a struggle to get him into the car,” she said. The woman said Khumalo was spotted in the neighbourhood last month, apparently to drop off her mother at a neighbour’s home for a party. But other than that there had been no word or sight of the family. Experts call for safer public transport MICHAEL MORRIS CAPE TOWN will share with every other major African city the fate of being in constant gridlock within a decade, unless public transport use doubles by 2025. That was the warning sounded following a city con- ference this week on keeping African cities moving. The three-day African Union of Public Transport (UATP) Work- shop on Best Practice in Africa, hosted by Transport for Cape Town, drew about 230 delegates from across Africa, as well as Germany, Switzerland, France and Singapore. “Africa is experiencing the most rapid urbanisation in the world, with surveys indicating that up to 60 percent of our res- idents will be living in cities by 2050… (t)he clock is ticking for all of us and we are racing against a tide of impatience and frustration,” observed Brett Heron, Cape Town’s may- oral committee member for transport. UATP president Jack van der Merwe told the conference that cities which failed to make a decisive shift to public trans- port “will not survive in future”. Making it the public’s “mode of choice”, however, meant that it had to be “effi- cient and integrated”. Dutch-born UCT professor Marianne Vanderschuren – who spent the first 33 years of her life riding a bicycle, then settled in South Africa 15 years ago and hasn’t been on one since – underscored the critical barrier to a shift to public transport: “I do not use public transport because I can afford to drive a car. I would love to use public transport, but not when I have to fear for my life, and I definitely will not let my children use public transport… and they should, because they are old enough.” Vanderschuren highlighted the apparent contradiction of declining use of public trans- port in South Africa since 2003 – and rise in the use of private cars – against mounting invest- ment in public mobility. “I am playing devil’s advo- cate,” she said, affirming that she advocated a shift to public transport. What was impor- tant, though, was to look at why it wasn’t working effectively. She highlighted the key pub- lic concerns of safety and secu- rity as a major barrier. Eddie Chinnappen of rail operator Prasa – who spelt out the dismal effects of under- investment in rail, and new plans for massive investment – agreed. “The bottom line is we all have to put heads together.” This also meant challenging political short-termism. In a 20-year infrastructure develop- ment programme, there was not much to show after five years, but politicians needed to commit to longer-term gains. A key feature of the debate was the emphasis on different modes of transport. Neil Frost, chief executive of iSAHA, a firm of strategic advisers specialising in trans- port highlighted the vitality and importance of the “flexi- ble, self-sustaining” minibus taxi industry, the carrier of some 15 million passengers a day across the country. Safety and security con- cerns needed to be tackled, but this could only be done effec- tively if taxis were accepted as a growing and important part of the overall transport system. “There is a place for each mode, and we have to plan in that way,” he said. The same was true for bicy- cles in the view of Andrew Wheeldon, of the Bicycle Empowerment Network, who called cycling one of the most “democratic” forms of trans- port ever invented, which had the capacity to transform mobility options for the poor. Research also showed how increased cycling promoted road safety. “In countries where the number of people cycling has increased, road fatalities have fallen,” he said, pushing for cycling to be more effec- tively integrated with other forms of public transport, such as buses and trains. International transport con- sultant Manfred Bock high- lighted integrated ticketing – across all modes within cities, regions or countries – as a key objective. Summing up, Vander- schuren said population projec- tions – the likelihood of a “tsunami” in city growth – indicated urgent need for a fresh, collaborative approach. “The point has been made that with population growth, there is a place for every mode of transport. But what we are lacking is a platform, a sys- tems approach. Unless all stakeholders come on board, no academic can pull it off… everyone needs to be involved.” For that to happen, there had to be trust. She suggested each sector challenge itself to “show what you can do”. “With the taxi industry, for instance, safety and security are the issues that keep coming up. So why does the taxi industry not take up the challenge and become the safest drivers out there?” She and other academics could help; it was possible. “We need to make sure transport is safe, and we need to start creating a society where this can happen. At the end of the day, it’s our trans- port system, and our society.” City gridlock predicted unless commuters accept other options MICHAEL MORRIS THE gist of Marianne Vanderschuren’s objective as a transport engineer is to dislodge the stubborn notion that roads are built for cars. Road networks, she argues, are about people, “not about people in cars”, and that means accommodating and protecting pedestrians and cyclists, and creating shared roads and associated infrastructure like pavements and crossings that accommodate vulnerable road users. South African road engineering tended to follow the US model, based on plentiful land, and cheap fuel – but the challenge was to adopt practices from European frontrunners in pedestrian and cyclist-friendly cities. “We need more of this thinking in South Africa, where 57 percent of road fatalities are pedestrians.” Vanderschuren, a professor at UCT, is the author of new national Transport Department guidelines for non-motorised transport which promote “more zebra crossings, better infrastructure on the sides of roads, such as broader pavements and dropped kerbs for special-needs users, and introduces more traffic- calming measures, such as bollards, neck-downs – where the road is narrowed in certain areas to accommodate pedestrians, and chicanes, or artificial narrowings or turns that force cars to slow down”. Another measure to restrict speed is to introduce third-tier roads in suburbs with a 40km/h speed limit. Writing in a UCT publication, Vanderschuren acknowledged that “while it's important to maintain the existing road network, as a growing economy demands this, it's also important to reconfigure some important roads to accommodate sharing by building in traffic- slowing measures and adding cycle lanes to the infrastructure”. This also meant introducing more special lanes for buses and taxis. “When the taxi lane was introduced on the N2 highway in Cape Town, the taxis managed an extra trip in peak traffic, increasing their passengers by almost 30 percent. And the travel time for cars decreased too.” ‘Roads are really about people, not cars’ PEOPLE CENTRED: UCT Professor Marianne Vanderschuren. MAJOR ROUTE: The N1 Highway inbound just before late afternoon peakhour traffic. There are few viable public transport alternatives. PICTURES: JASON BOUD IMPROVEMENTS: Roadworks on the M5 have been obstructing traffic, but may have a long-term beneficial effect.

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Page 1: The Weekend Argus

NEWSOCTOBER 24 201510

WITH THE WEEKEND ARGUS

AND THE PRESIDENT HOTEL

Prizes valued at R7120 up for grabs! WIN

With Halloween slowly approaching, Rainbow Academy has planned for the biggest event of the year – the Halloween Gala Dinner on Saturday 31 October, hosted at the President Hotel.

Purchase a ticket for R1000 and you may have the opportunity to share a table with Marc Lottering or Wilmot James! For all you major rugby fans we’ve ��������� ���� ���������������� ���������������

screens for your viewing pleasure.

For more information contact Denay Willie on 073 388 9570 or email [email protected]

www.presidenthotel.co.za

RULES� �� ������� ��� �������� ���������� ��� ��������� �� ����� ������� ��� ��� ������� ���������� ����� ��� ����������� �� ����� ��������

���������������������� ����������������������� ������������������������������������� !��"���������� ��� ��������������������������������

��������������#���������������������������$���������������������������������������������������������������������!������������������������

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WHAT YOU CAN WIN

One Night stay in the Hotel for two30 min Back, Neck & Shoulder massage

2 x tickets to the Rainbow Academy Halloween Gala Dinner

TO ENTER, ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

When is the Halloween Gala Dinner?

SMS WA, your answer, name, surname and email address to 34445.

Competition opens 7am today & closes 9am Monday 26 October 2015.

www.humanjobs.co.za Human Communications 122538

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Derailed locomotive still lies next to rail tracksDUNCAN GUY

TRAIN enthusiast Hardy Wil-son was shocked when a bird-ing trip in the Northern Caperevealed that a locomotive andcarriages that derailed twomonths ago in the Kimberleyarea are still lying beside thetracks.

The locomotive isreportedly one of the Spanish-manufactured Afro 4000 diesellocomotives purchased forR600 million by former Passen-ger Rail Agency of South

Africa (Prasa) chief executiveLucky Montana, who was firedin July. The trains were deemedunsuitable for South Africa’srailway infrastructure.

The locomotive and car-riage will be removed onlyearly next month, according toPrasa spokesman VictorDlamini.

“Two months is ludicrous,”said Hardy, convener of theRailway History Society inDurban.

“It should be cleared afterone or two weeks.”

Security guards at the scenechased him away as he tried totake photographs of the wreck.

The Shosholoza Meyl inter-city train, which derailed onAugust 18, was carrying pas-sengers from Joburg to CapeTown. It had been speedingwhile moving from the main-line to a newly constructedline, according to the prelimi-nary investigation report bythe Railway Safety Regulator(RSR).

It found that the accidentwas a result of “over-speeding

on a temporarily speedrestricted section” – 81km/h ina 30km/h zone between Modderrivier and Heuning-neskloof stations.

The preliminary reportfound that Transnet FreightRail failed to communicatewith Prasa, which runs theShosholoza Meyl, about thespeed restriction.

As a result, the section man-ager failed to communicatewith the train driver about thespeed restriction.

Prasa’s Dlamini said this

week that the removal of therolling stock could take placeonly next month, because theline had to be shut down duringrecovery.

“The first week of Novem-ber offers the first window ofopportunity to undertakerecovery and removal.”

He added a joint board ofinquiry between the track oper-ator and train operator hadbeen set up.

It was expected that its workwould be completed by the endof next month.

SPANISH TRAIN: A locomotive from a fleet bought at great expense from Spain stands partiallycovered after it derailed pulling the Cape Town-bound Shosholoza Meyl from Joburg inAugust. PICTURE: HARDY WILSON

One year on, residents still call foranswers to Senzo Meyiwa’s murderNONI MOKATI

ONE year on from the fatal night thatsoccer legend Senzo Meyiwa waskilled, community members ofMzamo in Spruitview still believesomething is being covered up.

To date no one has been convictedfor Meyiwa’s murder, which tookplace at Kelly Khumalo’s family homeon Kutlwanong Street. Some resi-dents feel police need to go back toquestion those who were in the housethat night.

Those there on the night appar-ently included Khumalo, who wasMeyiwa’s girlfriend, her two chil-dren, Khumalo’s mother Ntombi, twoof Meyiwa’s friends, Khumalo’s sis-ter Zandi. and Zandi’s boyfriendLongwe Twala.

“Someone knows something andneeds to come out with the truth. Peo-ple don’t believe that Senzo couldhave just been shot for a cellphone. Istill don’t buy the robbery story,” saidresident Thabani Msibi.

Meanwhile, the house whereMeyiwa was shot today stands empty.

A neighbour, who did not wish tobe named, said no one had been in orout of the property for months.

The neighbour remembered thenight of the murder clearly, sayingthat when shots rang out she thoughtit was the boy next door banging abroomstick against his shack walls.

Only when she heard peoplescreaming did she realise somethingwas wrong. And that’s when sheheard the news that the Bafana cap-tain and Orlando Pirates goalkeeperhad been shot after an apparent scuf-fle with robbers.

“He was carried into a car. I sawhis feet... it was a struggle to get himinto the car,” she said.

The woman said Khumalo wasspotted in the neighbourhood lastmonth, apparently to drop off hermother at a neighbour’s home for aparty. But other than that there hadbeen no word or sight of thefamily.

Experts call for safer public transport

MICHAEL MORRIS

CAPE TOWN will share withevery other major African citythe fate of being in constantgridlock within a decade,unless public transport usedoubles by 2025.

That was the warningsounded following a city con-ference this week on keepingAfrican cities moving. Thethree-day African Union ofPublic Transport (UATP) Work-shop on Best Practice in Africa,hosted by Transport for CapeTown, drew about 230 delegatesfrom across Africa, as well asGermany, Switzerland, Franceand Singapore.

“Africa is experiencing themost rapid urbanisation in theworld, with surveys indicatingthat up to 60 percent of our res-idents will be living in cities by2050… (t)he clock is ticking forall of us and we are racingagainst a tide of impatienceand frustration,” observedBrett Heron, Cape Town’s may-oral committee member fortransport.

UATP president Jack vander Merwe told the conferencethat cities which failed to makea decisive shift to public trans-port “will not survive infuture”. Making it the public’s“mode of choice”, however,meant that it had to be “effi-cient and integrated”.

Dutch-born UCT professorMarianne Vanderschuren –who spent the first 33 years ofher life riding a bicycle, thensettled in South Africa 15 yearsago and hasn’t been on onesince – underscored the criticalbarrier to a shift to publictransport: “I do not use publictransport because I can affordto drive a car. I would love touse public transport, but notwhen I have to fear for my life,and I definitely will not let mychildren use public transport…and they should, because theyare old enough.”

Vanderschuren highlightedthe apparent contradiction ofdeclining use of public trans-port in South Africa since 2003– and rise in the use of privatecars – against mounting invest-ment in public mobility.

“I am playing devil’s advo-cate,” she said, affirming thatshe advocated a shift to publictransport. What was impor-tant, though, was to look at whyit wasn’t working effectively.

She highlighted the key pub-lic concerns of safety and secu-rity as a major barrier.

Eddie Chinnappen of railoperator Prasa – who spelt outthe dismal effects of under-investment in rail, and newplans for massive investment –agreed.

“The bottom line is we allhave to put heads together.”This also meant challengingpolitical short-termism. In a20-year infrastructure develop-ment programme, there wasnot much to show after fiveyears, but politicians needed tocommit to longer-term gains.

A key feature of the debatewas the emphasis on differentmodes of transport.

Neil Frost, chief executiveof iSAHA, a firm of strategicadvisers specialising in trans-port highlighted the vitalityand importance of the “flexi-ble, self-sustaining” minibustaxi industry, the carrier ofsome 15 million passengers aday across the country.

Safety and security con-cerns needed to be tackled, butthis could only be done effec-tively if taxis were accepted asa growing and important partof the overall transport system.

“There is a place for eachmode, and we have to plan inthat way,” he said.

The same was true for bicy-cles in the view of AndrewWheeldon, of the BicycleEmpowerment Network, whocalled cycling one of the most“democratic” forms of trans-port ever invented, which hadthe capacity to transformmobility options for the poor.

Research also showed how

increased cycling promotedroad safety. “In countries wherethe number of people cyclinghas increased, road fatalitieshave fallen,” he said, pushingfor cycling to be more effec-tively integrated with otherforms of public transport, suchas buses and trains.

International transport con-sultant Manfred Bock high-lighted integrated ticketing –across all modes within cities,regions or countries – as a keyobjective.

Summing up, Vander-schuren said population projec-tions – the likelihood of a“tsunami” in city growth –indicated urgent need for afresh, collaborative approach.

“The point has been madethat with population growth,there is a place for every modeof transport. But what we arelacking is a platform, a sys-tems approach. Unless allstakeholders come on board, noacademic can pull it off…everyone needs to be involved.”

For that to happen, therehad to be trust.

She suggested each sectorchallenge itself to “show whatyou can do”.

“With the taxi industry, forinstance, safety and security arethe issues that keep coming up.So why does the taxi industry nottake up the challenge and becomethe safest drivers out there?”

She and other academicscould help; it was possible.

“We need to make suretransport is safe, and we needto start creating a societywhere this can happen. At theend of the day, it’s our trans-port system, and our society.”

City gridlock predicted unless commuters accept other options

MICHAEL MORRIS

THE gist of Marianne Vanderschuren’s objectiveas a transport engineer is to dislodge thestubborn notion that roads are built for cars.

Road networks, she argues, are about people,“not about people in cars”, and that meansaccommodating and protecting pedestrians andcyclists, and creating shared roads and associatedinfrastructure like pavements and crossings thataccommodate vulnerable road users.

South African road engineering tended tofollow the US model, based on plentiful land, andcheap fuel – but the challenge was to adoptpractices from European frontrunners inpedestrian and cyclist-friendly cities.

“We need more of this thinking in SouthAfrica, where 57 percent of road fatalities arepedestrians.”

Vanderschuren, a professor at UCT, is theauthor of new national Transport Departmentguidelines for non-motorised transport whichpromote “more zebra crossings, betterinfrastructure on the sides of roads, such as

broader pavements and dropped kerbs forspecial-needs users, and introduces more traffic-calming measures, such as bollards, neck-downs– where the road is narrowed in certain areas toaccommodate pedestrians, and chicanes, orartificial narrowings or turns that force cars toslow down”.

Another measure to restrict speed is tointroduce third-tier roads in suburbs with a40km/h speed limit.

Writing in a UCT publication,Vanderschurenacknowledged that “while it's important tomaintain the existing road network, as a growingeconomy demands this, it's also important toreconfigure some important roads toaccommodate sharing by building in traffic-slowing measures and adding cycle lanes to theinfrastructure”.

This also meant introducing more speciallanes for buses and taxis.“When the taxi lane wasintroduced on the N2 highway in Cape Town, thetaxis managed an extra trip in peak traffic,increasing their passengers by almost 30 percent.And the travel time for cars decreased too.”

‘Roads are really about people, not cars’

PEOPLE CENTRED: UCT Professor Marianne Vanderschuren.

MAJOR ROUTE: The N1 Highway inbound just before late afternoon peakhour traffic. There are few viable public transport alternatives. PICTURES: JASON BOUD

IMPROVEMENTS: Roadworks on the M5 have beenobstructing traffic, but may have a long-term beneficial effect.