Pretoria - Government is on course to improve the public transport system, including passenger rail, to benefit all South Africans, says Transport Minister Dipuo Peters.
“We have allocated R4 billion for rail operations and R4.1 billion for the Capital Programme which will enable PRASA to upgrade and strengthen the capacity of our passenger rail services,” the Minister said.
The Minister was outlining the department’s new priorities during the Budget Vote address at the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) in Parliament, on Wednesday.
She said she is satisfied that there is a fair balance in increasing the capacity of Metrorail in all Metropolitan areas.
In this 2015/16 financial year, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is expected to take delivery of the first 20 train sets built in Brazil as part of the Rolling Stock Renewal Programme.
She said plans to build a R1 billion factory in Ekurhuleni to produce the 580 trains and create an estimated 65 000 direct and indirect jobs over the ten year contract period are on course.
As part of the preparation for the new rolling stock, upgrades and modernisation of stations and depots to the tune of R2.2 billion are being undertaken in Duffs Road station in KZN; Philippi Station in the Western Cape; and Park station extension in Gauteng.
“We have demonstrated that we are on course to improve our public transport system, including passenger rail, to benefit our people and we committed to accelerate road infrastructure development both as an important lever of economic growth and a catalyst for job creation,” the Minister said.
In 2014/15, the Public Transport Infrastructure and Systems Grant (PTISG) and Public Transport Network Operations Grant (PTNOG) covered projects in 12 cities with approximately R5.87 billion in grant funding.
She said the department has further set out to strengthen the Road Accident Fund (RAF) for expanded access to much needed benefits for road users through the introduction of the RABS Bill, which provides for the establishment of a new “no fault basis” regime called Road Accident Benefit Scheme (RABS) to replace the current RAF.
Minister Peters also announced that on June 23, 2015, she will be launching the long awaited Road Safety Advisory Council, which will advise government on interventions to further reduce carnages on the roads.
Bus Rapid Transit
George Municipality and Tshwane Metro launched their pilot operations to test their Bus Rapid Transit services which are called “Go George” and “A re Yeng”, respectively.
This brings to four the total number of cities running the BRT operations, which includes “MyCiti” in the Western Cape and “Rea Vaya” in Johannesburg.
In these four cities, the incumbent minibus operators on the affected routes form the core of the new operating companies, where over 1 000 direct jobs have been created.
In the 2015/16 financial year, government will proceed to invest R5.95 billion through Public Transport Network Grant (PTNG) in the twelve identified cities.
“We expect Ekurhuleni to be the third Metro in Gauteng to launch this pilot services.
“In keeping with advancement of Intelligent Transport System (ITS), we will continue working closely with the Gauteng Provincial Government, the three Metros, PRASA, Gautrain Management Agency and the taxi industry to integrate all subsidised modes in the province into a single interoperable smart card by the end of the 2016/17 financial year,” she said.
Taxi Recapitalisation
The scrapping of old taxis and replacing them by safer vehicles has been a major stride for the department, the Minister said. Since 2006, the department has scrapped a total to 61 254 old taxis with a total payment of R3.4 billion for scrapping allowances.
The Taxi Recapitalisation Programme will however, undergo an extensive review focusing on its sustainability, affordability and the mapping out of a future integrated rollout solution.
“We also intend to strengthen our support to empower the taxi industry to participate in the entire value chain. Another element which is central to the provinces is the issue of bus subsidies.
“The public transport subsidy is allocated to the Department of Transport. However, the actual design, the day-to-day administration and management of bus services are devolved to the provinces,” she said. - SAnews.gov.za
