A new 24-hour traffic hotline is shining a light on fewer frustrations for Joburg’s road users who have to face congestion, traffic light outages and road works on a daily basis.
City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor, Herman Mashaba and Public Safety MMC, Michael Sun launched the hotline jointly with Metro police on 23 March, a week after the no-join policy was announced by the Johannesburg Roads Agency.
This policy means that technicians will no longer join old cables when an electrical fault is reported at a downed traffic light, but replace them with new ones.
The agency also has a traffic operation centre that will now tie in with the Metro police’s hotline. Spokesperson, Bertha Peters-Scheepers said she believes this will be a great help, especially when long repairs take place.
“We can communicate with [Metro police] and have pointsmen at these intersections,” she said.
Pointsmen and the private sector will also be involved in the 640-manned task team working alongside the hotline.
The hotline will give a platform for motorists to report vandalism, accidents, broken-down vehicles, areas where traffic lights are down or areas where traffic is gridlocked.
Emergency operators will log calls from the public and refer complaints to the Metro police radio operators (at least four at a time), who will dispatch officers to the affected area.
Other unrelated offences should not be reported to this specific hotline but rather to dedicated call centres or even via Twitter.
“This is another proactive intervention taken by the City towards easing traffic congestion,” Mashaba said.”For years, Johannesburg’s motorists have not been shy in expressing their displeasure at the little which has been done to make the City’s transport network fit for purpose.
Indeed, countless productive hours have been lost by residents sitting in traffic – simply trying to get from one point to another.
“Equally, businesses, particularly small to medium enterprises, have singled out our poor traffic system as one of the City’s top challenges inhibiting growth opportunities and business confidence,” said Mashaba.
Sun added that Joburg was rated the 44th most congested City in the world.Mashaba previously announced that the City will also be recruiting 1 500 additional Metro police officers, made possible through an allocation of R31 million in the City’s recent adjustment budget.
In addition, Metro police have identified 304 high traffic volume points throughout the City which will be manned by officers between 6am and 9am and again from 4pm until 6pm.
The traffic hotline number is 080 872 3342.
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