Help us fight vandals, JRA urges Alex residents
ALEX – Vandalism and theft of road infrastructure were placing a strain on the City's economy and resources, said a statement from Johannesburg Roads Agency which manages a total of 2 300 signalled intersections.
Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has called on community members and road users to assist in combatting the scourge of the theft of road and traffic lights infrastructure which is costing the City millions annually.
It said by reporting the perpetrators of these crimes to law enforcement authorities, the public will save themselves, as ratepayers, and the City huge amounts of lost revenue.
This also includes communities such as Alexandra which has also experienced its fair share of malfunctioning traffic lights.
Vandalism and theft of road infrastructure were placing a strain on the City’s economy and resources, said a statement from Johannesburg Roads Agency which manages a total of 2 300 signalled intersections.
“The JRA is faced with a mammoth task to save these assets from the rampant theft and vandalism of cables. A typical signalled intersection is made up of a number of components, both tangible and intangible. The tangibles range from signal poles, heads with globes, cables, traffic controllers, sensors, detectors and uninterruptible power supply units,” read the statement.
“Components that cannot be seen are power supply to signals, signal timings configurations, traffic adaptation capabilities and data disseminated by the signals.
“The focus of traffic signals maintenance centres is around the reduction of traffic signals downtime. This is intended to reduce travel times of commuters from their point of origin to their intended destination.”
To achieve this, JRA said it aimed to prioritise proactive maintenance, visiting each traffic signal at least once a month. Furthermore, its Remote Monitoring System assists with identifying faults, allowing for the technicians to be dispatched to resolve the faults before they are reported. “In the last three financial years, we have lost in excess of R37 million due to theft and vandalism to traffic signals-related assets.
“This financial year alone, 2020/21, there are already 196 intersections vandalised with an estimated cost of damages at more than R20 million that will be spent to replace or rebuild what is already damaged.
“The theft and vandalism of our assets lead to traffic signals downtime, which subsequently leads to the bad user experience of the network, accidents and huge cost to rebuild and replace the stolen equipment, further leading to denying service to those communities who could have benefitted with new installations.”
It said to rebuild an intersection could cost between R80 000 to R400 000.
The agency has called on citizens to be active in the fight against vandalism and theft of infrastructure equipment by reporting any suspicious activity.
“This fight can only be curbed through active citizenry and community involvement, policing and public awareness.”
Details: City of Johannesburg’s Call Centre 0860 562 874.
