What Joburg’s broken traffic lights cost motorists

Johannesburg residents lose 37 minutes on average per day on the city’s roads because of nonfunctional traffic lights, research by an expert shows.

“If the average time lost is 37 minutes per day, as per Automobile Association SA, it will cost more than R28 000 per year,” said Dr Aurobindo Ograurban, urban and regional planning lecturer at the University of Johannesburg.

“Fuel consumption is assumed to be 3.5 times higher due to traffic consumption,” Ograurban said regarding findings by Stockholm Environment Institute.

Traffic lights cost you time, money

However, the Joburg Roads Agency (JRA) said of its 2 023 traffic and warning lights, 75% were functional.

This was contrary to Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) CEO Wayne Duvenage saying the city’s traffic light situation was a real concern.

“Our recent X poll indicates motorists are experiencing a deterioration in the functioning of traffic lights.”

JRA’s acting head of mobility and freight Phalanndwa Makhwathana said the issues with traffic lights were due to “electrical power supply challenges that contribute to over 25% of the experienced faults”.

“Besides any other potentially attributable challenge, Eskom and City Power also experience theft and vandalism of the same network that supplies power to signals infrastructure,” Makhwathana said.

“The cost to restore nonfunctional infrastructure is estimated at over R70 million. About 600 confirmed technical faults are repaired per annum. This number excludes vandalised and power-related faults where the JRA is dependent on power utilities such as Eskom and City Power.”

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Residents share their frustration

A resident, Lungile Mthethwa, said: “I travel from Soweto to Alberton and it’s always a nightmare. As soon as you ramp onto Voortrekker Road the traffic lights are out. Those on Ring Road and St Austell Street are also not working.

“There’s about two traffic lights that are always out of order on that road. On Voortrekker, there’s about three lights that have been out for three months now. I am always late and we constantly fight with taxi drivers who want to cut in front of you. Don’t even mention how costly this is on petrol,” Mthethwa said.

Another local, Lizo Zulu, who commutes to Midrand daily from the R554 heading to Heidelberg Road, said the route had no working traffic lights for about four intersections.

“Previously I would spend R600 per week on petrol but now its R750 per week – that is R3 000 per month on petrol.”

Motorists in Randburg said traffic was jam-packed around 7am on Bram Fischer Drive, because the traffic lights were constantly broken.

Lights ‘always out’

A Wits University student said the lights were always out in Dunkeld, close to Hyde Park corner, which is a busy intersection.

Since 2022, the Fourways area had deteriorated, said Fourways councillor David Foley.

“It is extremely bad as there is no traffic flow, drivers get frustrated, the taxis drive on the pedestrian/cycling lanes endangering lives and scaring other drivers in doing so.

“A 10-minute trip takes 50 minutes. School children are arriving late for school and the parents need to leave earlier in the morning.”

Foley said to repair the lights can take up to eight months.

“We are told this recent spike in the problems is due to tenders that have gone out over six months ago, but not yet awarded, for outsourcing the maintenance of traffic lights, or the supply of parts,” Duvenage said.

‘Vandalised traffic lights take longer to repair’

JRA said vandalised traffic lights took longer to replace than technical errors. Those intersections may be without traffic signals for longer periods.

Makhwathana said “infrastructure security is a major challenge, as different sites have been vandalised within a few days after restoration”.

Besides relying on law enforcement, JRA developed specifications for a robust and smart controller system, he said.

“Furthermore, a [request for information] has been issued for information of other infrastructure-related robust aspects,” Makhwathana said.

JRA has received assistance from OUTsurance pointsmen to help ease congestion since 2005. Head of client relations at OUTsurance Natasha Kawulesar said the company currently have 70 pointsmen for the City of Joburg.

Duvenage said: “The current traffic light situation is placing the pointsmen team under pressure.

“I imagine they only have so much resources and can’t do more than what they have committed to. The Metro police department should up their game and get out to the busy intersections as well.”

According to JRA the hotspot area is Region F (Joburg CBD, Booysens and surroundings) with the most vandalised sites.

However, region B (Randburg, Blairgowrie, Ferndale, Parktown etc), C (Roodepoort and surrounding areas), D (Greater Soweto areas, Naturena and parts of Joburg South) and E (Sandton, Alexandra, Woodmead, Norwood, etc) “almost equally experience the scourge, while they collectively experience more than region F”.

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