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July 2015
Infrastructure & Mixed Use
T
ransport for Cape Town (TCT),
the City’s transport authority
evaluated the accessibility and
related costs of transport of different
income groups across the city, as well
as freight users.
According to the Mayoral Com-
mittee Member of Transport, Brett
Herron, the index reveals how com-
muters move around the city, their
preferred mode of transport in terms
of cost, safety, crime, flexibility and
congestion.
•
Themajority of the population in
the low income group earning less
than R3 200 per month is located in
remote areas and travel between
45 km to 70 kmevery day to get to
work opportunities
•
Most commuters in the low income
group live in Mitchells Plain and
Khayelitsha
•
Residents who fall within the low-
income group either use public
transport or walk
•
Contrary to the original assump-
tion that 80%of public transport
users in Cape Town fall in the low
and low tomedium income group,
this figure is actually as high as
95%, with 48% falling in the low
income group and 47% in the low
tomedium income group
•
Low income users spend up to 45%
of their monthly household income
on transport, while the internation-
al norm is between 5%and 10%
•
The highest priority cost for public
transport has been identified as
flexibility, which clearlymeans that
there is not enough public trans-
port and integration is poor
•
The TDI revealed that when it
comes to freight, congestion adds
10% to the direct costs. Further,
freight costs the City R731million
per annum in relation to infra-
structure and maintenance
“The case for addressing the cost of
transport to the lower income groups
is clearly overwhelming and this is
why TCT is committed to halving this
cost, as well as the costs of the other
user groups within the next 15 years,”
said Herron.
Users are defined as those using
public transport, private transport,
non-motorised transport suchaswalk-
ing or cycling and freight users.
In doing the analysis, the city was
divided into 18 geographical regions
or Transport AnalysisZones (TAZs). The
TDI identifies the access priorities or
concerns of each user group:
•
The direct cost of transport: the
cost to travel on public transport or
a private vehicle
•
The cost of the increased travel
time due to congestion on the city’s
roads
•
The cost of being involved in a
crime incident based on a trans-
port mode (bus, taxi, private car),
ranging from violent crime to pick-
pocketing, theft andmuggings
•
The cost of being involved in a road
accident and overcrowding and in-
adequate facilities as far as public
transport is concerned
•
The availability of public transport
during peak hours, the choice be-
tween different modes of public
transport, the interchangeability
between the different modes
(bus, train, taxi) and the lack of
an integrated payment system
(one ticket) across all modes
Even though the TDI is not a solution
to Cape Town’s transport challenges,
it identifies the problems that the dif-
ferent user and income groups experi-
ence on Cape Town’s roads every day.
“By knowing these problems, TCT can
now determine possible solutions or
interventions to address these and
adjust our expenditure accordingly,”
said Herron.
The TDI also reveals the concerns
and problems of freight users across
10 different freight data zones includ-
ing: local deliveries, medium freight,
heavy freight and long-distance
freight.
•
The direct transport cost (fuel, sala-
ries, maintenance and repairs, toll
fees, etc.) for the freight user group
averages R1,755 billion per annum
•
The cost of congestion for freight
users averages R121million per
annum
•
The cost of safety measures
R19million per annum
•
The cost of crime is R15million per
annum
•
The impact of freight transporters
on Cape Town’s residents in terms
of accidents averages R930million
per annum
•
The direct impact of freight trans-
porters on the city’s road network
(capital expenditure andmain-
tenance) costs R713million per
annum
Following on from the TDI, the next
step was to evaluate Cape Town in
terms of the Arthur D Little Mobility
Index that is used to measure cit-
ies all over the world. Herron says,
“This means that we need to invest in
systems that can integrate different
modes of transport and that we have
to take action to decrease residents’
travel time to work.”
Finally, going forward the TDI pro-
vides the City with a benchmark
against which TCT can measure its
performance.
■
Transport Development Index
The City of Cape Town’s Transport Development Index (TDI) – the
first to be developed in Africa – reveals that 95% of commuters
making use of public transport in the city fall within the low and
low to medium income groups. Almost R45 out of every R100 of
low income earners' monthly expenses is spent on transport.