Urgent Call for integrated public transport as Cape Town population set to double

Cape Town has less than 30 years to develop public transport infrastructure capable of accommodating double its current population.

However, to succeed the City will first need to overcome a fragmented approach to public transport that largely explains the current congestion crisis.

In addition, the private sector will need to step up to find workable solutions based on sound business principles.

These were some of the key themes to emerge from the first Cape Chamber-led Systemic Dialogue Network (SDN) session on Passenger Mobility, on March 26.

Leading passenger mobility stakeholders from across the broad spectrum of academia, the public sector, and the private sector, shared the SND platform to articulate the most pressing passenger mobility challenges. Two recurring themes were the urgent need for better collaboration between different tiers of Government, and the pressing need for greater public-private partnership in seeking out sutainable solutions.  

“Until we have one boss, one budget, one priority list for a public transport modes..we will not see any progress towards development of integrated public transport,” warned Gershwin Fortune, an independent Transportation Engineer. 

“There are fragmented roles in terms of how we manage public transport.  There are competent officials in each of these departments, but because we have different visions and priorities, we all go to different departments. We need devolution of functions to the most appropriate authority.”

“But we can’t devolve functions if there is no capacity,” Fortune said.

But better alignment between national, provincial and local government is only part of the puzzle, some stakeholders cautioned: “It’s a societal challenge, not an authorities challenge,” said Regan Melody, City of Cape Town director of Urban Mobility.  

For this reason the City would prioritise a robust public participation process to inform the latest iteration of its integrated public transport plan, which will soon be made available.

“What we as a city will try do with these next set of plans is to ensure it is robust,” Melody said. “The debate and comments that come in is appreciated. We need to ensure that we incorporate as much as possible so that we build the next vision without neglecting the priorities of today.”

Cape Chamber chief executive John Lawson said efficient transport would help more businesses succeed: “If we do the maths of what it costs our economy, it (inefficient transport) makes so many businesses unviable.”

Ongoing collaboration would ensure the current mobility challenges received the attention it required, with the Strategic Dialogue Network playing a facilitating role. 

“It’s a very important topic this. We seeded some new ideas. We got the right people around the table. We’ll crowd in more people and unpack each of these little seeds,” Lawson said.