Skip to main content

South Africa to upgrade public transport

Speaking at the launch of South Africa’s 2013 Transport Month, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters pledged to spend more than US$500 million on planning, building and operating integrated public transport networks in more than thirteen cities in the country. The major cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town have already constructed over 20 kilometres of dedicated bus lanes. Both cities will expand operations to carry up to 100 thousand passengers a day on each system, while the bus rapid transport system in Joh
October 2, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Speaking at the launch of South Africa’s 2013 Transport Month, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters pledged to spend more than US$500 million on planning, building and operating integrated public transport networks in more than thirteen cities in the country.

The major cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town have already constructed over 20 kilometres of dedicated bus lanes. Both cities will expand operations to carry up to 100 thousand passengers a day on each system, while the bus rapid transport system in Johannesburg is also set to expand. A second phase is to open in the next two weeks, providing a link between hospitals, universities and sports facilities in the city.

"One of the instruments that we are looking at is the intermodal automated ticketing system that would then allow for integration of the different transport and networks," said the transport minister.

Peters praised the country’s road network, but admitted that maintenance of the roads does not come cheap, saying the country needs to spend US$2.9 million a year on just maintaining them, but at the moment can only spend US$2.9 million on both maintenance and new construction

The minister also said that from 2015, the government will be looking at upgrading passenger trains through the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), and US$1.2 million will also be pumped into rehabilitating coaches and the signalling system.

Related Content

  • March 26, 2012
    Western Cape province targets road deaths
    South Africa’s Western Cape province has revealed plans to deploy technology – satellite trackers in all public transport vehicles, ANPR built into freeway cameras, and cameras at level crossings – in an attempt to reduce road deaths, according to a report by Independent Newspapers.
  • July 31, 2012
    Dubai metro - the world's longest automated rail system
    David Crawford reviews the recent opening of Dubai's Red Line. The US$7.6bn Dubai Metro, the Phase I Red Line of which started partial operation in September 2009, will be the world's longest driverless rail system on its planned completion in 2011. With a total length of some 75km, it will then overtake the 68.7km Vancouver SkyTrain and be able to carry over 1.2 million passengers on a typical day.
  • November 29, 2013
    Deployment in South Africa shaping up
    More than 200 South and Southern African ITS stakeholders met at the biennial International i-Transport Conference and Exhibition to seek transport solutions that improve efficiencies and safety while reducing the carbon footprint. This year saw the event host its largest exhibition to date with both local and international exhibitors. ITS South Africa’s CEO, Dr Paul Vorster, said: “ITS deployment in South Africa is shaping up very well and with the large number of new Integrated Rapid Transport Systems
  • June 20, 2016
    Thales builds on Canadian connection for transit R&D
    The Canadian province of Ontario is continuing to benefit from its ongoing investment in transit R&D. David Crawford looks at the impact of new investment. Developing the next generation of urban rail signalling solutions worldwide, with the emphasis on transit security and efficiency, is the goal of a recently-created business partnership between the government of the Canadian province of Ontario and Thales Canada. The wholly-owned subsidiary of the France-HQ'd global defence, aerospace and transportation