Cape Town's traffic nightmare a wake up call

Masonwabe Sokoyi 

THE intensification of traffic congestion in Cape Town has reached intolerable levels, worsening an already prevailing crisis marked by inequality and further increasing the already substantial cost of living. 

Many workers face a daily life marked by extensive time wasted stuck in traffic, losing hours that could otherwise be spent on productivity or well-being. This is not a problem solely to be blamed on urban sprawl; rather, a reflection of a spatial configuration born out of apartheid that has not been sufficiently remedied, coupled with a palpable lack of political will from both the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town to address the issue in a fundamental way. A crucial point within this is the fact that Cape Town's spatial configuration was never designed to include most residents.

Apartheid legislation required coloured and black workers to live in outlying areas, with extensive travel to economic hubs like the Cape Town Central Business District. Thirty years later, this same spatial configuration still exists largely in place, with little done to remap the city in a way that values efficiency and workers' needs. 

Even with increased use of private cars and improvements in public transport offerings, congestion still worsens due to the inherent absence of a coherent system of transport for residents. The public transport system, marred by inefficiency, criminality, and mismanagement, has made only incremental steps in offering a viable alternative.

The decline in passenger rail services due to vandalism of infrastructure  has left millions without a reliable alternative for transport. 

The minibus taxi industry, being the main form of transport for most workers, is characterised by safety issues and operates under an intimidating environment with brutal law enforcement  that creates more disorder during peak hours. 

Conversely, despite being launched with a massive advertising campaign, the MyCiti Bus Rapid Transit system is still not fully integrated, making it inaccessible to most employees. This forces them to rely on private cars, thus making traffic worse.

The city has a high dependency on two main arterial roads N1 and N2 wherein congestion is a recurring issue for most hours in a day. With a consistent increase in city dwellers, there seems to be a lack of a unified plan for building alternative routes or for investment in multimodal transport that could drastically reduce this problem. 

City planning has largely focused on expanding roads to accommodate mostly private vehicle owners without considering the crucial need for a good and safe system of mass transit. 

This issue is compounded by the anti-transformation approach to making the City habitable . The absence of the private sector or their deliberate profit driven drive and encouragement to own cars, with the support of auto companies and banks, creates a situation in which public transit is further pushed to the side. Corporations have no incentive to solve congestion through measures like remote working, flexible hours, or employer-sponsored public transit. This leads to increased transport costs, wasted time, and bodily stress for employees.

Amongst the most important and immediate interventions, a wide-ranging restructuring of public transport infrastructure is required. Priority should be given to having a cost-effective, safe, and accessible mass transit system, which will require serious investments in rail systems to be the backbone of urban mobility. 

Restoration to a well-governed and safe rail system would drastically cut down the reliance on cars for street travel, thus offering a better alternative for employee travel. Policies need to be developed within government structures to favour employees over big business. Such policies should include incentives for companies to promote remote working for employees whenever possible, along with implementing flexible working hours to reduce traffic jams in off-peak hours. While remote working may not be possible in all sectors, specifically those that are highly reliant on manpower, companies should realise that over-reliance on conventional office space is neither required nor viable.

Moreover, the actualisation of space transformation is a priority. Cape Town's entrenched apartheid cityscape requires elimination in favour of bold policies that enable mixed-use developments in proximity to economic hubs. There is a need to prioritise affordable housing projects within or in proximity to the Central Business District and other important job centres, reducing travel times and enabling workers to reside in closer vicinity to their working areas. There is a need to promote non-motorised transport in a focused manner. The creation of specialised bike lanes and people-friendly structures across the city is important for providing alternative transport.

Although cycling is a good mode of transport in progressive cities in other parts of the world, in Cape Town, it is fraught with peril and inconvenience due to a lack of adequate infrastructure and a lack of political will. Ultimately, the problem of congestion is more than a simple issue of transportation; it is a question of justice. Workers should not have to bear the economic costs placed on them by a system designed to marginalise their presence.

Workers in Cape Town need a transport system that is in their interests, not those of big business and motor industries. The struggle against traffic congestion is necessarily against an unjust economic system that reproduces working people's exploitation. Only through progressive planning approach can we create a city that is actually accessible, efficient, and fair for all residents.

Sokoyi, a former SACP spokesperson,  writes in personal capacity