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News Archive July 2010 Students discuss public transport
News Archive July 2010 Students discuss public transport
| Students discuss public transport |
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| Tuesday, 27 July 2010 |
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Students from around the world are in Joburg for a 10-day workshop, with a session devoted to the Bus Rapid Transit system. TRANSPORT issues were discussed by a group of students from around the world, who gathered at the Drill Hall in Joubert Park in downtown Joburg. The students were joined on Monday, 26 July by the mayoral committee member for transportation, Rehana Moosajee; Sicelo Mabaso, the chairman of the Top Six Taxi Association; and Eric Motshwane, the chairman of the Greater Johannesburg Regional Taxi Council. Mabaso and Motshwane were members of the BRT Joburg Taxi Industry Steering Committee, active in the implementation of Rea Vaya, and are the heads of the two largest taxi associations in the city. Jackie Dugard, who has studied the history of transport and taxi violence in South Africa, was also present. She is a senior researcher at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. The students are in the city for a 10-day workshop titled “Techniques of capital: property, self-creation and politics in precarious times”, which is an initiative of the Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism, under Wits. The primary aim of the session was to discuss issues surrounding public transport, with emphasis on the implementation of the Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) into the city, and the impact it has had on the taxi industry. Moosajee explained that the taxi industry arose as the former government did not cater for the transportation needs of citizens in certain sections of the city. “It emerged organically. There was no planning of routes, which resulted in power struggles and a fair amount of violence.” She also made it clear that Rea Vaya was not a threat to the taxi industry, as the BRT had the potential to draw in the taxi industry. “Taxi leaders must see that the growing usage of private vehicles is the biggest threat to the industry.” Taxi industryMabaso, who has 18 years of experience in the taxi industry at a senior level, explained to the students that one did not need a CV to get into the sector. “We don’t look for an academic background – just for potential drivers to have a driving licence and know routes and road signs.”The students were quite surprised to hear that a taxi would drop a passenger anywhere, and would stop anywhere – even in the middle of the road - something to which Joburgers have become accustomed. “We are driven by the interests and demands of the commuters. If a passenger needs to get out, the taxi will stop then and there.” Mabaso also noted the importance of Rea Vaya, saying it “pulls those with private vehicles back into using public transport”. Motshwane explained that there were still some in the taxi industry who were hesitant to accept the BRT as they feared change and were used to what they knew. “The negotiations with the government taught us discipline; it taught us that we must engage with the government. We have been empowered by these negotiations. The knowledge and skills acquired will stay with us for a long time.” Dugard, whose published works include A violent legacy: The taxi industry and government at violent loggerheads, and Taxi wars in South Africa’s transition, also remarked on the importance of the Rea Vaya BRT to Joburg. “BRT is absolutely important to citizens and the city itself. It’s cheap and a safer alternative.”
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