Abstract

MSc (Urban and Regional Planning), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus The unique urban contexts that emanated from the apartheid history of South Africa informed the transport landscape of the City of Johannesburg. Apartheid‘s divisive spatial planning and land use management policies promoted sprawling and separated labour from work. This was further exacerbated by poor funding of public transport and road designs that encouraged the use of private cars. The democratization of the country in 1994 was the beginning of a new phase in the history of the city. A new approach to policy formulations that entails the provision of public transport as one of the tools to end years of marginalization and inequalities was adopted by the national government. It soon became a policy direction that reflects in planning decisions of all spheres of government. The Rea Vaya BRT and the Gautrain were respectively introduced by the municipal and provincial governments to demonstrate governments‘ commitments to the new policy direction. While the Gautrain was implemented to facilitate elite movement within Gauteng and to crowd investments and economic growths around station nodes; the BRT was provided for marginalized commuters in Soweto, to provide a sustainable alternative to the dominant minibus taxi. Although the two modes (Rea Vaya and Gautrain) have endured almost a decade filled with public sentiments and other issues, this research concludes that most of the challenges are associated with the country‘s historical context and the age of these transport systems. The Gautrain has demonstrated that viable alternatives to the private car can be provided, with its satisfactory feedbacks from users; and some of its station nodes (Sandton, Rosebank and Pretoria) have showed promises of transit-oriented development, one of the project‘s key objectives. The other stations have been unable to stimulate growth due to reasons like non-implementation of their Urban Design Frameworks and lack of public sector investment required to attract private investors. The Rea Vaya, in its third phase of implementation, has been extended further north to Sandton in spite of both its inability to induce modal change and its low ridership figures. The research identifies factors like low peak to base ratio, pricing and the city‘s disjointed urban fabric as some of the reasons for its below average performance. By drawing from the highlights and limitations, the study recommends that public transport provision should be institutionally integrated across and within spheres of government. Similarly, harmonization of the funding structure, better understanding of users‘ needs and travel patterns, underlined with continuity of policy direction and objectives will equally help to achieve optimum outputs. Master

Abstract

Station-nearness principles as we will discuss in this paper, deals with the coordination of urban functions with the public transportation network. When we talk about functions, we mean residences, workplaces, commercial services, entertainment venues, places of culture, etc. These functions should be high density, there should be a mix of them and they should be pedestrian friendly in nature. Effective integration of functions around train stations brings many benefits and is one of the best means by which you can increase public transport use and increase the accessibility for people in a region. More and more, cities in North America, Europe and other places, are exploring the idea of how this concept can be applied. The Copenhagen region as we will discuss, has placed station-nearness principles at the forefront of their finger plan. Since the Copenhagen region has applied these principles, they have seen clear results with increased public transit ridership, as well on the overall, an increase in the standard of living. As many places are exploring the concept, not everyplace has been able to make the concept work. When we look at Scania, the concept is under utilized to a degree. There continues to be many populated and dense areas in Scania where the coordination of urban functions with public transit is lacking. The automobile is also gaining stronger competition over public transportation; this is a concern in terms of the sustainable future and quality of life for the region. It is not always the solution to simply expand the public transportation network, rather it can be significant to explore more upon the concept of station-nearness principles so that the existing public transit network can be made more effective. It is important to compare places, see in our case study how the concept has worked in the Copenhagen region and look into why the concept is lacking in Scania, as well, what can be done to implement it more in Scania. It is also important how the Öresund region as whole, can play a role with developing the concept, as well, how the concept can benefit the Öresund region vice versa.