Severe congestion has characterised the Polokwane CBD since the end of last month when the rehabilitation of Thabo Mbeki Street between Dorp and Schoeman streets commenced. The good news is, however, that the project has been fast-tracked and is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
Mantlako Sebaka, Head of Marketing, Communications and Stakeholder Relations in Polokwane Municipality’s Transportation Services Directorate explained that the rehabilitation of the section of Thabo Mbeki Street was necessary to ensure that the infrastructure would be able to accommodate the heavy traffic volumes to be generated by the city’s ambitious Integrated Rapid Public Transport System (Pirpts), named Leeto la Polokwane.
The Pirpts is scheduled to be implemented before the end of this year and construction of most of the infrastructure is at an advanced stage.
Sebaka said that the work on Thabo Mbeki Street was being done in two phases. “The first phase, currently in progress, involves the closing of two lanes, leaving the other two lanes for traffic. Once the two lanes are completed, the remaining two lanes will be closed for rehabilitation while traffic will be diverted to the new lanes,” Sebaka explained. “Development will ultimately outweigh frustrations,” he added.
The capital cost of the overall project, amounting to more than R1,5 billion is funded from the Public Transport Network Fund (PTNG) from National Government.
Only 6% of the city’s income from assessment rates will be used for the operational costs of the service, while the balance will be recovered from ticket sales and a 70% subsidy from the National Department of Transport.
The system will in the three years’ interim phase be operated by a Vehicle Operating Company (VOC) that will comprise the municipality, the Seshego-Polokwane, Moletjie, Westenburg and Flora Park taxi associations and Great North Transport.
A memorandum of agreement has been signed with all affected parties during 2018 and will ensure that the rights of all are protected and that the system is implemented with the full support and cooperation of all current operators.
The system will be operated through an automated fare collection concept that will charge a flat rate for the trunk route regardless of distance travelled.
The operating system will include automatic vehicle tracking, real-time map display, driver panic buttons and two closed circuit TV cameras on board for every bus.
The low entry buses will be used on the trunk route that will initially run between Seshego and the inner city while smaller buses that will be operated by the VOC, will transport commuters on the feeder routes.
Commuters will be able to use the dedicated cycle lanes that are integrated into the bus routes and park their bicycles safely at bus stations from where they can access the buses.
The city’s urban traffic control system will be integrated with the movement of the buses to ensure minimum congestion and free flow of bus traffic.
Story: Barry Viljoen
>>barryv.observer@gmail.com
Photo: Herbert Rachuene
>>herbert.observer@gmail.com
