Another toll on highway drivers

31 July 2014 - 02:03 By Rea Khoabane
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A major part of the Ben Schoeman freeway - between the Allandale
A major part of the Ben Schoeman freeway - between the Allandale

Cape Town may well be the most congested city in South Africa but you are most likely to be caught in a traffic jam on the Ben Schoeman motorway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

According to the South African National Roads Agency, traffic volumes on the Ben Schoeman - that includes portions of the M1, N1 and N14 - has increased by 7% year-on-year since 2010.

In 2010 an IMB global survey showed 300000 cars used the Ben Schoeman daily. Sanral now says the figure is one million a day and its spokesman Vusi Mona said several factors influenced congestion on the highway. Among them were urbanisation and economic growth. He said research showed a year-on-year increase in traffic of 5-7% on the highway.

Urban planning designer Chris Pombrol said the number of cars was growing rapidly with the growth of the black middle class. Road and Traffic expert Howard Dembovsky said that, even with both Gautrain and Rea Vaya providing public transport, many still felt it was cheaper to use their own cars.

"Public transport is not as cheap as was intended and safe public transport in South Africa is still a dream," he said.

Tom Tom's 2013 traffic report says SA is the only country in the world with its worst congestion on a Monday; in the rest of the world it's on a Wednesday.

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