25% of SA drives to work as wait for urban public transport gets longer: survey

31 March 2015 - 15:37 By Shaun Smillie
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INSIDER INFO: The dashboard and VW logo on the steering wheel are trimmed in yellow, as is the Jensen DVD player
INSIDER INFO: The dashboard and VW logo on the steering wheel are trimmed in yellow, as is the Jensen DVD player
Image: Thuli Dlamini

We South Africans have become more mobile.

The latest National Household Travel Survey‚ released today‚ shows that South Africans have fewer barriers to mobility than what they had ten years ago.

Households living in rural areas have better access to public transport‚ and reduced travel times than they did in 2003.

The last National Household Travel Survey in South Africa (NHTS) was conducted in 2003. But while those in rural areas are spending less time getting places‚ urbanites are tending to wait longer for transport‚ than in 2003.

Their journeys to work and school were also longer than a decade ago. The survey also found that pupils generally walked to their schools‚ while those in higher education took taxis.

Nearly a quarter of South Africa's workforce of 15‚3 million workers drove to their places of work‚ using private transport. Of the rest‚ taxis ferried 3‚7 million workers‚ while a further 3 million walked to work.

Another million used buses as their main mode of transport. This latest survey said StatsSA shows that South Africa is becoming increasingly urbanised.

These surveys are used by government to develop transport policies and other structurally planning.

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