Government pulls plug on failed integrated public transport systems that cost more than R80bn

After spending more than R80bn over two decades on integrated public transport network systems, including the bus rapid transit (BRT) programme, the government has admitted the project has failed.

It is now phasing out grants and finalising a new road-based public transport fund that will consolidate existing bus and minibus funding streams.

The biggest shortcoming of the BRT was its failure to attract millions of commuters, who still rely mainly on minibus taxis.

“Numbers don’t lie, and only 152,000 passengers use these forms of transport nationwide daily, compared with the 8-million who use taxis,” said transport department spokesperson Collen Msibi.

With the public transport grant that funded these projects now being phased out, network plans, which are in various phases of operation across 11 cities, have been hit by budget cuts of 30%.

This state of affairs has left certain cities scrambling for solutions.

Some towns such as Rustenburg saw taxi operators take to the streets this week demanding answers from the local municipality.

“There can be no conscionable argument to keep funding this form of public transport when commuters don’t benefit from it,” said transport department spokesperson Collen Msibi.

He said the initiatives had failed to meet the target of becoming mass movers of commuters.

Msibi said the government had spent more than R80bn in 20 years on the plans, including those put in place for the 2010 World Cup.

“Recently, spending has slowed to approximately 70% owing to delays in supply chain procurement at city level, as well as staff turnover and lengthy negotiations with affected operators.”

He said the delays had meant just nine of the 11 grant-funded cities had become operational, with just 44-million passenger trips made each year.

Msibi said the department was introducing another grant that would replace the public transport one.

“A new consolidated road-based public transport fund that consolidates existing bus and minibus funding streams is being drafted for consultation.”

Transport expert and former lecturer at the University of Johannesburg Vaughan Mostert said the BRT project had been bound to fail.

“I must confess to be annoyed when I hear about these developments because it’s about 15 years now and when it started I told them it was not going to work. But now we have a vested interest in the form of these BRT companies.”

Mostert said the government had created a mess by establishing companies to run the BRT services that would not succeed in solving public transport problems, especially in provinces such as Gauteng.

“All these initiatives are insulated attempts [to solve public transport issues]. Gautrain and Prasa are also isolated attempts. We need one comprehensive plan under one transport authority for the entire province,” Mostert said.

For municipalities such as Msunduzi in KwaZulu-Natal, BRT plans have also been abandoned.

Spokesperson Anele Makhanya said they “[could not] proceed with [their] original integrated public transport network plans”.

“The department of transport directives prohibit new system expansions, and the remaining baseline budget cannot be spent on the long-term commitments intrinsic to the original plan, such as procuring new buses or compensating the taxi industry,” Makhanya said.

She said that, instead of continuing with the rollout, “the municipality is preparing a mandatory transition-aligned implementation plan to demonstrate how it will adapt operations and manage the wind-down of existing contractual commitments”.

The City of Joburg, which was among the first to roll out its Rea Vaya BRT in 2009, has similarly had to revise its plans.

The city’s transport spokesperson, Benny Makgoga, said the system had become degraded and was facing partial collapse.

He said the likely erosion of the network was more than just a city transport issue, but rather “a broader public service delivery failure with direct implications for national government priorities and economic inclusion”.

The City of Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for urban mobility, Rob Quintas, said, “The broader reductions to the grant funding and the proposed discontinuation of the grant thereafter created significant uncertainty regarding the long-term sustainability and expansion of the system.”

In eThekwini, where the municipality is still procuring buses for the service, implementation plans are being revised.

eThekwini spokesperson Mandla Nsele said, “The budget reductions will affect future expansion and implementation timelines … but the programme is not being discontinued.”

Msibi confirmed the decision to phase out the grant was an “urgent” one taken by cabinet last year.

“The cabinet made an urgent decision in November to wind down the public transport network grant, but the department of transport had already warned cities that possible cuts were looming. The department and the Treasury have tried to soften the reductions by committing to fund contractual commitments,” Msibi said.

When he was asked why the services were not individually assessed for their performance and feasibility, Msibi said, “Given that most cities are delayed anyway, an across-the-board cut of approximately 30-40% was seen as responsible to ensure current commitments are met.”