Min-Bus Taxis & Pedestrians in Africa: Challenges and Solutions

Minibus Transit Africa s Ultimate Paratransit Transport Mode Flexible transit between formal transit and a car On demand and flexible Not restricted to Designated Stops Cost Effective Non subsidised by government Natural Market Reaction to segregation and lack of formal public transport Self sustaining Except for permit system, mostly non regulated by government Transports about 15 000 000 passengers daily with a fleet of approx. 300 000 vehicles accounting for more than 40% of SA s total daily passengers (SATAGO says this is 60% to 70% of daily workforce) This is the accepted figure according to isaha s findings, these figures may be under valued by approx. 30% in certain metros. 1.9% Other (such as bicycle) Main modes of travel or transport used by households 4.4% Train 9.7% 10.2% Passenger in car, bakkie or truck Bus 13.7% Driver of car, bakkie or truck 18.5% Walking all the way 41.6% Taxi Data source: NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD TRAVEL SURVEY 2014 (2013 FIGURES) 2

Challenge Formalising The Minibus Taxi Industry Structure The face of public transport in SA has changed radically over the past 10 years: Dawn of BRT in all Metro s; Restructuring of Public Transport contracts gross cost; Renewed focus on seamless intermodal transport; Direct competition by BRT on traditional minibus routes / payout of licence; and With limited public funds there is a call for value for money and monitoring of transport services, requiring strict performance management oversight of all public transport modes. 3

Challenge Formalising The Minibus Taxi Industry Structure (Cont.) As was to be expected when an informal sector is forced to compete with more formal transit modes, efforts are made to formalise it. The single most important challenge is to integrate the minibus taxi industry into the formalised intermodal transport system. According to Rea Vaya, Gauteng will have 18.6-million inhabitants in 25 years of which 8.9-million will be workers that require daily transport from and to work. That's 8.9-million home-work trips and work-home trips around 24-million to 25-million passenger trips a day. (Source: Mail & Guardian) Reality is: The public sector requires the taxi industry to assist with the transportation of citizens, there simply is just not enough money for government to do it on their own. 4

The Solution Embrace the Mini-Bus Taxi Industry as a Full Member of the Public Transport Family Modern, flexible and portable ICT Solutions makes taxi fleet management and modal integration of even the minibus taxi industry possible: Confirm minibus taxi route and passenger information; Attend to route planning and modal integration with other passenger transport modes; Proper business valuations, fleet planning and maintenance; Taxi association business structuring based on actual passenger values and information; and Where there is no other option than to discontinue minibus taxi route operations, offer a fair business valuation to taxi owners based on independent variable data. 5

On-board survey 6

Pedestrians Challenges & Solutions According to the World Health Organisation (Pedestrian safety: AA road safety manual for decision-makers and practitioners, 2013) pedestrians faces the following mayor risks: World wide 22% of all road deaths involves pedestrians; Vehicle speed; Alcohol abuse by pedestrians Lack of pedestrian facilities in road way design; and Low visibility of pedestrians. Solutions may include: controlling vehicle speed; developing traffic-calming measures; restricting vehicle traffic in residential areas and design pedestrian friendly open spaces; building sidewalks; enforcing traffic laws; pedestrianizing city centres; and installing pedestrian signals. 7