City of Joburg Executive Mayor Parks Tau has been commended for his role in promoting EcoMobility among residents.
Participating in a panel discussion on transport and EcoMobility at the South African International Renewable Energy Conference in Cape Town, on Tuesday, Monika Zimmermann, the Deputy Secretary General for Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), said the decision by the City to roll-out a massive campaign to encourage residents to park their cars and walk should be lauded by other cities around the world.
To mark Transport Month, the City is currently hosting the EcoMobility World Festival, in Sandton, where various public transport and technology innovation initiatives will be discussed as the world coordinate efforts to mitigate climate change.
“What impresses me is that this project is basically an awareness raising project.
“It is more a project of inclusion, of social issues than just a pure transportation project and this is how we should discuss these issues not so much from a technological point of view but from how we want our cities to look like.
“And in so far as that is concerned, I think we should all applaud the Mayor of Joburg for staging this in a central business district,” she said.
ICLEI is an international association of local and metropolitan governments dedicated to sustainable development.
As part of the festival, Sandton was turned inside out, with several roads being closed off from regular traffic at core parts of the CBD.
Residents, workers, visitors and businesspeople are, however, given access to Sandton’s CBD through various expanded public transport modes to encourage people to leave their cars at home or at a park and ride and cycle or walk to work.
This was done with an aim of decongesting Sandton.
A comprehensive traffic management plan was rolled out to mitigate an impact on traffic or any confusion that may lead to chaos.
According to the City of Joburg, over 100 000 cars move in and out of Sandton between 7:30am and 8:30am daily.
Zimmerman said she hoped that the initiatives rolled out during the festival could be taken forward and that other cities can look at implementing similar models.
“What is actually happening in the Sandton CBD is that several roads are either partially closed, completely closed or only available for residents.
“There are minibuses running and there are different kinds of feeders available for people and they are all very much encouraged to walk.
“Apparently the Gautrain busses are full every morning and people are starting to complain about that, but besides that there has been a very positive reaction.
“We hope that many benefits will be brought for so many people and we hope that some legacy will be left [after the festival] to ensure that maybe central business districts can do things differently in the years to come,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za
