EcoMobility for the future, roads in Sandton to be closed off
JOBURG – The City of Johannesburg has begun the countdown to the EcoMobility World Festival 2015 to be hosted on the streets of the Sandton CBD in October this year.
October is recognised as Transport Month, which is an annual feature on the calendar of the Department of Transport launched in 2005. It seeks to raise awareness of the important role of transport in the economy and invites civic society and business to participate in providing a safer, more affordable, accessible and reliable transport system for the country.
The City has begun to roll out decongestion plans in the Sandton CBD where the number of commuters has been increasing at 3.4 percent per annum. Mayor Parks Tau admitted that there was no more road capacity in the CBD to accommodate further growth at this rate.
Tau said, “Already Sandton is one of the most congested areas in South Africa and the picture of traffic in the precinct is a very gloomy one.
“On a daily basis between 7.30am and 8.30am, about 95 700 people move into Sandton while just over 50 000 travel out – this is more than 100 000 people daily. Of the total traffic on Sandton streets around this morning rush hour, up to 70 percent of it is, in fact, private cars.”
He added that if more people did not switch to public transport, walking or cycling, traffic in the area would eventually grind to a halt.
To prevent this, the City began working with the Sandton Management District just over two years ago. This resulted in the new Sandton Transport Master Plan being approved for implementation which is designed to promote the use of public transport and cycling as a transport mode of choice. Tau said the City was taking the lead in the implementation of the plan through the introduction of the bus rapid transit system, Rea Vaya, and cycle lanes together with improved public transport facilities.
He said, “The upcoming EcoMobility Festival is part of this grand implementation plan which is set to give the people of Johannesburg a preview of what the streets of, not only a future Sandton, but what the rest of the city will look like with decongested traffic.”
For the month of October, several streets in the CBD will be closed off to private vehicles in a bid to decongest the area.
People will be able to have full access to Sandton, but the emphasis will be on using public transport to move in and out of the CBD.
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