The Gauteng government is investigating ways to reduce congestion in the province, including a new tax on the purchase of cars and improving public transport. What do you think?
The Gauteng government is investigating ways to reduce congestion in the province, including a new tax on the purchase of cars and improving public transport.
According to , the Gauteng MEC for transport and public works, Khabisi Mosunkutu, talked about the province’s congestion management strategy at the South African Transport Conference in Pretoria on Monday.
Mosunkutu said the province needed to discourage car usage, but had to improve public transport immensely for the project to work.
“To make the use of public transport services more convenient, attractive and economical, public transport modes should be improved and effective marketing is required,” Mosunkutu said. He added that public transport “should attract all classes of users”.
The MEC said the strategy also included redesigning streets to help reduce traffic, driving and parking fees. He said these measures were aimed at encouraging car pooling and multi-purpose trips to reduce the number of kilometres travelled.
Nico Vermeulen, director of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa), told the newspaper that it would not be easy to discourage the use of private vehicles without an efficient and affordable public transport system.
“But there are a whole range of measures, such as lift clubs, that could be implemented to reduce congestion without having to resort congestion without having to resort to punitive measures such as raising taxes,” Vermeulen said.
What do you think?