Taxis trying to save petrol during off peak hours

Public relations officer Zed Simelane of Dobsonville Roodepoort Leratong Johannesburg Taxi Association (Dorljota) said their taxi business in Joburg ranks like Joubert and Gezeni leads to congestion in traffic because they don’t have an official facility.

Simelane said some business owners complain about the congestion of taxis in the Joburg CBD and that this led to taxis being deployed back to the townships after rush hour.

He said: “We’ve decided that taxis are placed in the townships to collect people who travel to Joburg from the township in the afternoon.”

“A strategy for taxi drivers to save petrol has been initiated, a driver shouldn’t transport two or three people if not with a full load,” said Simelane.

Simelane said this is the reason why some taxis would switch passengers from one taxi to another.

“Taxis are now based in the township but from now on will be scarce because drivers don’t want to waste petrol for a few passengers as customers are hard to find after rush hour,” said Simelane.

He said the City should consider giving the association a site to run their business effectively to avoid congestion in town.