http://www.gautrain.co.za/i

The transit system there isn’t sure of how to deal with the thousands of collectivo drivers, who are independent of the transit agency but provide millions of trips per day and connect riders to the transit agency’s BRT system (TransMilenio).

One idea is to integrate the drivers into the agency and make them employees. However, there are many issues to this.
1. What do you do about their vehicles?
2. How do you split the revenue?
3. What payment instrument do you use?
4. What fare do you charge? Not all collectivo riders also take a trip in the transit agency’s system.
5. How do you combat corruption?
6. Is it possible to ban collectivos?
7. How do you take into consideration the tens of thousands of taxi drivers?

Before we could answer many of these questions, several students asked questions that could only be answered by data about the agency’s daily trips, Census-like data that would tell where people live and go to work, and something like a Household Travel Survey that would show which methods people take on their trips.

I hope this is relevant :)

When people talk about “taxis” in South Africa, they’re usually not referring to metered cabs as in New York, etc. (Although such cabs do exist in South Africa)

Instead, they are referring to the minivans used as an informal, unsubsidized, public transit service. (In the US, we would use the term “jitney” or “dollar van”).

The South African taxi service got its start during the apartheid years, when blacks had to live in townships far from cities such as Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. While some township commuters could take trains into the city, these quickly became overcrowded. The government subsidized fleets of buses (PUTCO) for this purpose as well.

A few black entrepreneurs started transporting people in minivans. The apartheid government, which usually frowned on black-owned
businesses, generally looked the other way at the taxis. The taxis provided transport to and from the townships without an expensive government subsidy, was probably the reason.

Growth of taxis mushroomed to the point where they carry more than 60%
of all public transport riders in South Africa; bus ridership dropped and PUTCO, which became a symbol of apartheid, withdrew much of its service.

The post-apartheid government, realizing that the taxis were an important source of employment as well as transportation, continued to allow the taxis to operate. Taxi drivers and associations became very politically powerful as well, and many officials feared defying them.

While either government never prohibited taxis from operating, it also never attempted to regulate them in any meaningful way either. Taxi operators were free to pick their own routes and schedules. Operators soon formed associations, which became more like mafias, not above using violence to discourage other taxi operators or associations from encroaching on a particular route.

Taxis have also threatened competing forms of transportation as well, such as city buses in Cape Town. In some areas, people in *personal automobiles* have been dragged out of their cars and forced to take taxis.

Taxi operators’ driving habits are legendary, and not in a good way. Speeding, unsafe lane changes, and stopping suddenly to board/let off passengers are all too common. Vehicle maintenance leaves much to be desired too, although a government program (“taxi recapitalization”) promises to provide new vehicles to the operators….

Sources:

Taxis Give Blacks a Chance at the Driver’s Seat:South African Taxi Industry Gives New Clout to Blacks
William Claiborne Washington Post Foreign Service. The Washington Post (1974-Current file). Washington, D.C.:May 18, 1988. p. A23 (2 pp.)

S. African Bus Firm Cuts Service:Company Attacked For Apartheid Role
By William Claiborne Washington Post Foreign Service. The Washington Post (1974-Current file). Washington, D.C.:Dec 6, 1986. p. A25 (2 pp.)

Also, check any South African newspaper on the web (such as http://www.iol.co.za), and search on “Taxi”. http://www.joburg.org.za is also good.

Youtube has a number of videos showing taxis in action (search “joburg taxi”)

I understand the initiative for the BRT, having seen the traffic snafus created almost daily by random police checkpoints (which will likely only get more frequent with the World Cup en route). It is good to know that Jo’burg is going to be taking a step into the 21st century, however, I do question how some of the BRT protocols will be handled in the Jo’burg environment. I would say that the Troyville area in particular is not going to be a great area for pre-pay boarding, though I am also unsure of how to get around the mugging of tourists. Maybe, just maybe the police will become a little less corrupt through this whole process, maybe become a little more reliable. I hope so.

I guess in the end I am torn. I see the benefits of both systems, but I always realize the more urgent need to update old systems. So, I figure I must be pro-BRT.

So the problem is much more dire: transit was needed years ago; and, Rea Vaya is a great start. (Gautrain will help also, albeit on a regional scale.) Failure would make it difficult to roll out BRT to Cape Town and Durban.