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In September last year, local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan was reported as saying that “a shortage of luxury buses needed to transport more than 400 000 visitors … has been identified. At the 1 000 days countdown, we need to engage manufacturers of buses and place orders. Teams with large followings such as Brazil, England, Germany and Japan will arrive in blocks – big blocks.”
Around the same time, the department of transport issued a tender for consultants to develop a financial and operational plan for 500 luxury buses. If they are to be available in good time for WC 2010, orders will have to be placed very soon.
In preparation for the hosting of WC 2010 and its curtain-raiser event, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) systems are also being rolled out in most major South African cities.
One of the most important anticipated additional legacies of hosting the WC is that it should leave these cities with a fully stratified and integrated public transport system in the country’s history.
The current system is unsafe, unreliable and near impossible for a tourist to understand.
According to the City of Cape Town’s Public Transport Plan 2006-2011 the ageing fleet of buses in the host city is far from meeting modern standards, the trains are 46 years old on average and half the taxi operators are unlicensed (Cape Times, 6th November 2007).
The Johannesburg taxi industry was marred by violence, crime at taxi ranks, negligent driving and fierce competition between associations on new routes, according to a report (13th November 2007) in Business Day.
The government has allocated R9 billion to the Public Transport Infrastructure and Systems Fund to implement transport infrastructure to support the successful hosting of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
According to a Department of Transport document on preparations for the Soccer Word Cup, R241.7 million and R700 million were transferred to municipalities and State-owned enterprises in 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 respectively. An amount of R1.8 billion will be transferred during the 2007/2008 financial year and R3.5 billion and R3 billion have been set aside for 2008/2009 and 2009/2010.
Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) systems are being rolled out at four cities – Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth – in a bid to alleviate congestion and promote public transport ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
One of the most noticeable changes when the system becomes operational in 2009 will be the absence of minibus taxis. At least, that will be the case on the trunk (main) routes which will be served by the new BRT system.
The city of Pretoria, for example, will develop a R1.9 billion BRT system of 92 km, to be operational in time for the Soccer World Cup. Construction is to start mid-2008, and to be concluded in 2010, reported Engineering News.
Bob Stanway, transportation executive director of the City of Johannesburg, said global best practice had shown that conflict was minimised when existing operators were drawn into BRT systems.
“The city of Bogota, in Colombia, faced a similar challenge with its taxi industry, and managed to avert conflict by making them shareholders in the operating companies responsible for running the BRT system.
“If any operator strikes, there will be no buses available on that entire route. However, when operators are responsible for portions of routes, no one route is affected in its entirety, making it possible to ask non-striking operators to extend their services to the affected parts,” explained Stanway to Engineering News.
Apart from buy-in from the minibus taxi industry, the largest challenge remaining may be to beat the clock. The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup is looming big.
The 17-km Chinese BRT system built in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics took 16 months to complete from conceptualization to implement-action. South Africa has 30 months remaining to kick-off, and this for much larger systems.
Stanway expressed the hope that BRT systems across the country would soon be able to operate under a special dispensation, allowing their environmental impact assessments and approvals to be fast-tracked.
Bus market
A massive upgrade of the City of Cape Town’s transport system for 2010 will see 250 new buses on Cape Town’s streets, modern and secure services and huge improvements to the city’s main roads.
Several of the projects have already started as authorities have set plans in motion to meet 2010-deadlines to host the Soccer World Cup.
Expenditure on roads and other transport infrastructure such as rail and airport services will far exceed the R2.49 billion price tag of the new stadium at Green Point.
Projects include improved public transport facilities to at least three major fan centres that will have huge big screen facilities, shops and other entertainment components to meet the demands of fans that cannot make it to Green Point, reported the Weekend Argus. The three fan centres would be at Bellville Velodrome, the Grand Parade and Athlone.
Eddie Chinnappen, executive director for Transport, Roads and Stormwater, said: “We want to leave a legacy of an improved public transport system for the city. There are plans to deploy around 250 new buses.”
The chairman of Golden Arrow, Marcel Golding, told Cape Business News that the Western Cape government had stated that 300 buses were planned for the transportation of the 200 000 visitors projected to visit Cape Town in 2010.
Golden Arrow, the backbone of Cape Town’s bus system, has spent almost R200 million on 169 buses since April 2004. It now operates a fleet of more than 1000 buses.
Bus companies will not only supply the buses, but will also be involved in maintaining the vehicles, playing an important behind-the-scenes role.
Current planning is that the Johannesburg BRT system, known as Rea Vaya (we are moving), alone will use at least 640 buses (188 between 18.5m and 22m long, 102 of 8.5m and 350 of 13.9m).
During a briefing in November of the parliamentary portfolio committee on transport by department of transport officials, director-general Mpumi Mpofu said a detailed operational plan has been put together. It touches on everything from aviation, rail, buses, airports, taxis and construction.
About 1 000 new buses will be made available for the WC and rail systems would be upgraded, he said.
In a local bus market which normally sells around a thousand buses a year, numbers such as these have piqued the interest of the entire bus industry.
For example, DaimlerChrysler South Africa (DCSA) Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles divisional manager Kobus van Zyl said late last year his company may grow capacity at its East London chassis plant, allowing it to cater for BRT demands.
Ashok Leyland, one of India’s leading vehicle manufacturers, when annoucing plans to set up assembly plans in South Africa, also confirmed that new products heading for the local market would include 12m luxury buses.
One of the most noticeable changes when Rea Vaya becomes operational in 2009 will be the absence of minibus taxis on the trunk or main routes, which will be serviced by the new BRT system. As part of a stratified and integrated public transport network minibus taxis will act as feeder network to the BRT and service secondary localised routes.
City of Johannesburg transportation executive director Bob Stanway says the only buses allowed on the trunk routes will be those of the BRT system.
The trunk routes in this system will make use of large buses travelling in dedicated median lanes on current roads, with smaller complementary buses operating on BRT routes without dedicated lanes, feeding commuters into the trunk routes.
Buses will stop at special stations to be constructed every 500m to 750m along the trunk routes. This means a current four-lane road will typically see the two middle lanes taken up by the BRT system, with the remaining lanes allocated to other vehicles.
Phase 1A, comprising a 40-km route with 48 stations, will be completed by April 2009, ahead of the FIFA Confederations Cup, while Phase 1B will add 86km and 102 stations to the system ahead of the 2010 soccer World Cup. The estimated cost of phase 1A and B is R2 billion.
Improving the bus and minibus taxi road-based public transport network, however, is not the only element of the sector set for a major upgrade.
Metrorail’s massive investment
South Africa’s biggest passenger rail operator, Metrorail, owned by the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC), has a five-year capital plan of R23 billion, including the requirements of the 2010 World Cup, the Department of Transport said.
Dries van der Walt of the SARCC explained that rail transport would be important during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, especially as most of the visitors who would attend the event were used to rail transport in their countries.
“These people are used to public transport in their countries. Their trains look and feel good while our rail operations are facing problems every day,” he said, adding that “expectations for rail transport will be high during the tournament.”
The SARCC is also seeking to implement a turnaround strategy to put rail on a recovery path towards sustainable growth, while locating it as an important part of the public transport system.
“As part of the turnaround strategy and in preparations for the 2010 tournament, the SARCC will use the Public Transport Infrastructure and Systems (PTIS) grant to implement the programs.
“Our turnaround plan focuses mainly around 2010 and it involves the PTIS grant, increasing our rolling by 2000 coaches by 2010 and ensuring that our regional operational plans are aligned to host city requirements,” explained Van der Walt to Business News.
He highlighted rail safety as another priority for the SARCC, saying the re-introduction of railway police was important. A total of 24 contact and reaction points will be set up countrywide, with each having 130 constables and 21 vehicles.
The government had allocated R8.5 billion for passenger rail infrastructure for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, according to Mpofu.
On an inter-nodal and inter-city scale, the Gautrain project is also on course for completion and will contribute to an efficient transport system in 2010 and beyond, said Chris Britz of the Gautrain project to Business News.
One section of the project linking the OR Tambo International Airport, Sandton and Midrand will be ready on 1st June 2010, in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The other sections will be competed afterwards.
He explained that while reducing congestion, it would stimulate economic growth and contribute to job creation.
“The integration of the Gautrain into the public transport system will stretch the potential market through enhanced access.
“It will enable the Gautrain to be a catalyst for the transformation and restructuring of the total transport system,” said Britz.
Air travel
On a national level Mpofu said that the State would spend R19.5 billion to upgrade South Africa’s airport infrastructure over a period of five years.
Goran Vracar of the Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) said to delegates during a symposium on Transportation and the 2010 World Cup: “We want to provide adequate capacity for traffic and construction-free airports during the event. And these developments should be sustainable.”
ACSA is also introducing large new-generation aircraft to deal with increasing traffic volumes.
Major developments are taking place at the OR Tambo International Airport, including the expansion of the central terminal building, multi-storey parking, a bus station, an apron, extended retail mail and pier and link corridor, to the value of over R3 billion.
Developments at the Cape Town International Airport include the upgrading of the central terminal building (R1 billion) and a multi-storey parking to the tune of R394 million.
The capacity of the Durban International Airport is being increased from 4.2 million passengers per annum to 7.5 million by 2010.
Work is also being done to improve other national airports and a new airport is being built at La Mercy in KwaZulu-Natal at a cost of R5,7 billion. For its part, ACSA has airport infrastructure plans to handle 31 million passengers in the 12 months leading to March, up from 28.2 million passengers in the previous year.
Jeff Radebe, minister of transport, said at a recent World Cup seminar: “The 2010 FIFA World Cup is a major milestone in our history and marks the beginning of a major revolution in South Africa’s transport system as we implement strong infrastructure and transport services.
“Our 2010 World Cup transport plans are to represent a concrete foundation for the transform system beyond 2010.”
Biggest threat
The biggest threat to getting the transport systems needed for successfully hosting WC 2010 in place in good time was identified as long ago as July last year by the parliamentary portfolio committee on transport.
In a report on an oversight visit to host cities and discussions with the department of transport, it was stated: “At present there is only one senior official, a chief director, who is working full time on 2010 in the department.
“Many other senior officials in the department are also actively involved with 2010 matters … but they all have many other responsibilities and principal points of focus.
“This situation should be compared to Germany’s World Cup preparations where, the committee has been told, the local organising committee had a team of 80 full-time transport specialists working.
“The committee understands that a similar-sized team of transport experts is working full-time on London’s 2012 Olympic preparations.”
Similar concerns were again raised by MPs in November during a briefing by department of transport officials, led by director-general Mpumi Mpofu.
“In planning, we are absolutely confident. We have increased investment and capacity to operate. But the biggest red flag we see now is the skills to operate,” he told the committee. He added, however, “We acknowledge that this particular World Cup is important. We believe the country can pull off these games and do so wonderfully.”
Committee chairperson Jeremy Cronin said the country needed to make transport its legacy just as Korea and Japan had made broadband theirs after the 2002 World Cup.
“But, the frightening thing about 2010 is that there is a time limit, unlike taxi recapitalisation, which took seven years,” he said.
Piet Coetzer
