Sing your way to school and save the planet

Johannesburg’s Department of Transport has initiated its VayaSmart-jhb Lift Club Karaoke to school competition that will run over the next 13 weeks.

Lift Club Karaoke for schools offers learners the opportunity to showcase their vocal talents while travelling to school in lift clubs and help reduce greenhouse emissions. Learners can enter the competition by recording and posting a 1-minute karaoke video based on weekly themes, on any social media platform while carpooling with friends to school and tagging @vayasmartjhb.

The weekly karaoke themes for July/August are:

Week One: 15/7/24 Party Bangers (choose a party tune that slaps and get your jam on!)

Week Two: 22/7/24 Disney Classics (Disney movies are a vibe, whether you’re 8 or 18!)

Week Three: 29/7/24 Chomi (A BF has your back 24/7. Which song makes you think of yours?)

Week Four: 5/8/24 Family Time (Make some noise, bang out a family favourite!)

Week Five: 12/8/24 Love songs (someone’s living in your head rent-free, sing out your love!)

Go online onto X: X@CityofJoburgza, Facebook: City of Joburg, Instagram: @CityofJoburg and TikTok: @CityofJoburg for the upcoming themes.

The aim of the competition is to influence young minds to choose smarter, more eco-friendly modes of transport such as carpooling, walking, cycling, scooters and energy-efficient public transport as it becomes available. Scholar transport is one of the major contributors to traffic and this initiative is aimed at reducing traffic congestion and air pollution to create a cleaner environment.

On November 7, last year, Joburg’s Transport Department held an online discussion on changes to travel behaviour for better efficiency of its transport system. Technical experts from the transport industry and climate change agencies were invited to participate as the city aligns with the requirements of the City’s Growth and Development Strategy and Climate Action Plan.

Travel Demand Managment (TDM) is a combination of measures and strategies that aim to limit traffic congestion and the reliance on cars by reducing the demand for private vehicular use during peak-traffic hours, especially the use of single-occupant-vehicles (SOVs).
The Transport Department has developed six campaigns for the pilot projects:

• VayaSmart to Work Campaign
• Schools VayaSmart Campaign
• The Park-and-Ride Campaign
• The Parking Campaign
• The Cycling Campaign and
• The Mobility As A Service (MAAS) Campaign.

The short-term benefits are creating active awareness of other transport offerings in the city, how transport contributes to pollution and what citizens can do to reduce their carbon footprint by changing how they travel to various areas while the long-term benefits will see marginal decrease in traffic congestion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the identified areas through policy and by-law implementation.