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Transport adventure day a hit
- Details
- 24 October 2012
Teams from companies, unions and the City spent the day racing from one spot to another, all using public transport, during Transport Month's treasure hunt.
IT seemed like a good day for an adventure – the City's department of transport had invited about a hundred people to join its second adventure race on Wednesday – and we were rearing to go.
Teams met at Park Station at 7am, where each team received an envelope with three locations to which they had to travel before meeting again at the Soweto Theatre in Jabulani. They had to get around using only public transport, which could be the Gautrain, Metrobus, Metrorail, taxi or non-motorised transport, such as bicycles, or two legs.
The mayoral committee member for transport, Rehana Moosajee, said that the adventure was more than about using the different modes of transport, but was also held to judge how easily they could be integrated. There were some 15 teams in all, ranging from staff from City departments like the Joburg Roads Agency, Metrobus and the Metropolitan Trading Company, to members of the ANC Women's League and Cosatu, and staff from Crown Mines, Caxton newspapers, and the Gautrain.
Some teams using their clues, were quick to find their locations while other teams took time to get to their locations. Others had to walk long distances than intended as Piotrans (Rea Vaya Bus Operating Company) bus drivers were on strike that day and as a result they spent more time than they wanted, walking to find their locations, when they could have taken Rea Vaya buses; other teams took it leisurely, having breakfast along the way. But the general consensus was that it was a wonderful experience and that people were friendly and helpful. Everyone also agreed that Metrorail was not an experience to be repeated. There were no timetables; people waited for long periods on the stations; and they were shuffled around from platform to platform with little information.
But this didn't dampen the spirits. "Joburg is a great city. Yes, it is a challenging city but it has a vision and a future," said Moosajee at the end of the day.
I joined team 13, which included the national Department of Transport's director-general, George Mahlalela, and DJ Zinhle. "This is a brilliant idea," said Mahlalela. "I wish more people would use public transport." He also thought that Rea Vaya was "an excellent idea".
Three locations
We got the briefing, stuffed our brown paper bag mid-morning snacks into our bags, and strategised. Our three locations were the Origins Centre at Wits, the Oriental Plaza in Fordsburg, and Gold Reef City in Ormonde.
Where to first, though, to optimise our route? It was mutually agreed to walk to the Origins Centre. We headed off in the early morning coolness, taking about half an hour to get there. Instructions were that photographs of the locations were to be taken.
Next up was Fordsburg. A "floating taxi" was hailed. Our group consisted of 11 members, so we needed to commandeer the whole taxi to accommodate everyone, and we needed it to go directly to a specific point. This is a taxi that supposedly turns up empty but during the debriefing at the end of the day, other teams reacted scornfully to this idea, suggesting it was pre-arranged. No, we insisted, amid much laughter.
A photograph was taken at the plaza, then another floating taxi to Bree Street, where much discussion ensued. How do we use another mode of transport? Metrorail? But some in the group were reluctant to go back to Park Station, so it was agreed to grab a taxi to Langlaagte, where we would step on a train.
That went flawlessly – we piled out the taxi right outside the station, thinking that we would get tickets to the FNB Stadium then a quick taxi to Gold Reef City. But trains only run to the stadium on match days. So it was time to take a break and strategise further. Someone bought a bag of vetkoek and a large wad of polony. We stood around a table in a tiny café at the station and companionably tucked in.
And then it was back to business. We trekked up to the platform and after a 15-minute wait a train pulled in. We only just managed to board before the doors closed. If a pregnant woman or a child hadn't moved quickly, they would have been squashed in the doors.
The train dropped us off at New Canada Station on the outskirts of Soweto. Another floating taxi was hailed, and we sped away to Gold Reef City. We positioned the DG in front of the entrance, snapped a few shots, and were off again, on our final leg to the Soweto Theatre.
Atmosphere of frivolity
There was an atmosphere of frivolity at the theatre as teams came in, exchanging their stories. Of his trip, the DG said: "I needed this to understand what people experience every day. It was a good experience and showed we have major challenges. We need to improve public transport. We need to improve integration of the public experience. But it was a good experience."
A short tour of the theatre followed while we waited for all the teams to arrive. Once everyone was present and accounted for, we were given boards and pens and asked to document our journeys.
Then the second part of the fun began: teams were given five minutes to present their stories, and with lots of laughter the adventures tumbled out. There were negative stories. Some said if you didn't know your way around, you would find it difficult to travel through the city. Others said that as first-time users of public transport, it was not the most user-friendly place to be: no signage, no information kiosk at Park Station, no monitoring of services, no internet information on Metrobus routes like the Gautrain bus service provides.
Praise
But the praise was great. "It was a very interesting and wonderful adventure. We had lots of fun, people were friendly and helpful. It was very vibey," said one group.
"A spectacular experience – it is not every day that you get to travel using three modes of transport," said Caxton's team.
"People escorted us to where we needed to go. People aspire to use cars but you miss out on the social experience," explained the group from the Green Neighbourhood Project.
The group from Joburg Water were complimentary of taxi drivers. "Although some taxis were run down, the drivers were so sweet and willing to help," they said.
"You have to be very patient when travelling with public transport. But it was exciting, it was fun," said the Crown Mines group.
"We really, really enjoyed the experience. There is a huge need for this to happen. Why don't we read about this on Facebook?" agreed the four landscape architects from Green Inc.
The women from the ANCWL felt like "headless chickens". They spent a lot of their day walking, trying to find their locations, and not always receiving good advice. "We are so exhausted."
And a member of Cosatu even got a chance to play his horses.
After the presentations were made, Moosajee summed up the experience: "In (some) places there was no information, no voice, no ability to communicate. We don't want to say this again next year. We hope this is an opportunity to take feedback in the spirit it is given. We want to build a better Joburg through all of your voices."
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