Case study analysis of integrated public transport networks in five South African cities

Manuel, Mikhail

Case study analysis of integrated public transport networks in five South African cities

Master Thesis

2019

Abstract

In 2007, 13 South African cities embarked on implementing Integrated Public Transport Networks (IPTN’s) guided by the Public Transport Strategy and Action Plan (PTSAP) published by the National Department of Transport (NDoT). The PTSAP sought to reform public transport industries across South Africa by 2020 to ward off increasing congestion, passenger dissatisfaction with overcrowding, long travel times, high travel costs, and safety concerns. Of the 13 cities, Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM), City of Tshwane (CoT), City of Johannesburg (CoJ), City of Cape Town (CoCT), and George Local Municipality (GLM) had progressed the furthest by the end of 2017. However, all five Cities had experienced delays in achieving their IPTN project objectives. This dissertation investigates the underlying factors causing the delays. The research was guided by a framework of analysis developed by three core questions - the impact of the minibus-taxi industry negotiations, the impact of government’s capacity to implement, and the impact of South Africa’s urban form. The literature review begins with the fundamentals of reform of the three dimensions of the public transport industry: service characteristics, operator business structure, and competition. It then continues with a review of the history of attempts at reform in the minibus-taxi industry and bus industry, and a breakdown of the PTSAP. The literature review concludes with the fundamentals of mass transit use with an emphasis on the influence of urban form. Data were collected from media sources, government and academic publications, and qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The data were used to evaluate each IPTN system’s outcome and develop a chronology of each project’s implementation. In NMBM, Libhongolethu was delayed due to the strained relationship between the local minibus-taxi industry and the NMBM, and the alleged mismanagement of resources. It was concluded that alack of political will and a lack of capacity-to-implement were the underlying factors. In CoT, A Re Yeng was delayed due to difficulty in developing adequate IPTN plans, and lack of foresight on the long-term impact of political decisions. It was concluded that weak planning capacity and poor political decision making were the underlying factors. In CoJ, Rea Vaya benefitted from the external pressure of hosting the World Cup, as well as strong political leadership in the minibus-taxi industry and CoJ during Phase 1A. However, the project still grappled with animosity between local minibus-taxi associations, the influence of national mother- bodies on local associations, distrust of government within the minibus-taxi industry, industry transformation compensation benchmarking, and uncertainty following the 2016 local government elections. Therefore, it was concluded that politics within the minibus-taxi industry and government were the underlying factors. In CoCT, MyCiTi was delayed due to the inappropriate nature of BRT for Cape Town’s spatial form, higher than expected industry transition costs, budgetary cycles of government financial planning, and the moderation of services to improve financial sustainability. Therefore, it was concluded that an overall inappropriate solution to the public transport problem, prudent political leadership and adequate capacity-to-implement within the CoCT were the underlying factors. In GLM, GoGeorge was delayed because of inappropriate design restrictions imposed by the NDoT and changes in political leadership in quick succession at a vital stage of the project. Therefore, it was concluded that a lack of capacity within the NDoT and leadership instability were the underlying factors. In conclusion, all three core questions were found to be determinants of success or delay, while in addition, political will was also found to be a fundamental factor to success or delay. Analysis of the case-specific causes of delay found thatall cases were ultimately delayed due to five fundamental factors: an inappropriately ambitious implementation timeframe, the incongruency between gold-standard BRT design and South African urban form, the difficulty of overcoming the complexity of trust between the minibus-taxi industry and government, political will, and government’s lack ofcapacity to implementa reform programme as complex as the PTSAP.

Keywords

civil engineering

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