Monday, November 30, 2015

Cosas wants free transport for pupils

Sowetan LIVE: "He said the government would set a good example by allowing pupils to use trains for free when going to school.

"We have a problem with a South African government that wants to give students free train tickets for soccer matches but is reluctant to give them free train tickets to go to school," he said."

Friday, November 27, 2015

Africa the new frontier for #autosprawl

Massive road and rail projects could be Africa’s greatest environmental challenge: "In total, we have identified 33 massive “development corridors” that are being proposed or are underway. At the heart of each corridor is a road or railroad, sometimes accompanied by a pipeline or power line."


Wednesday, November 25, 2015

PE taxi bosses demand city launches public transport system

Times LIVE: "Laphum’ilanga Transport Services‚ which represents the taxi industry‚ has vowed to pursue all its options – including possible legal action against the municipality – to compel the city to start the integrated public transport system (IPTS) project."

Friday, November 20, 2015

Ghana Govt imports 200 buses for public transport

Business News 2015-11-19: "“We lack an effective public transport. In every city that I have travelled to abroad, there is a private transport provided by taxi drivers, mini buses and all that, but there is also public transport. So, we are introducing a new bus system."

Monday, October 19, 2015

Must Read: Blistering condemnation of South Africa #publictransit

BDlive: "The 2013 National Travel Survey showed commuters using public transport were spending on average more than 30% of their income on transport. This is totally unacceptable considering that half of all workers still earn below R3,033 a month. The same survey also pointed out that 6-million breadwinners were stranded because they could not afford any form of transport."

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Traffic is Growing Problem in Africa

voa: "JOHANNESBURG—
As the African continent rapidly urbanizes, cities are swelling into megacities and a new problem is rearing its ugly head: traffic."

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Exploitation of west Africa oil for western #sprawl provides fertile ground for #islamicstate

Islamic State soldiers in western Africa chase away government tanks on foot. Years of western exploitation have provided fertile soil for growth of extremism in western Africa.

Ethiopia: Poor Public Transport Impacts Economy

allAfrica.com : "According to the research, the increase in transportation cost, long queues of commuters waiting for busses/taxis, unnecessary conflicts with minibus assistants, robbery and physical damage, poor quality service, poor treatment of people with disability, the elderly, pregnant women and children and others were cited as serious problems.

The social and economic impact of problems emanating from poor public transport service was also emphasized in the research.

According to the research, poor public transport has a direct impact on economic performance of a given country for it affects workers industriousness."

Public transport is the way forward - Joburg mayor

News24 : "Parks Tau said public transport should be the backbone for urban mobility and city leaders should commit to urban space for all.

He hailed the first week of the festival as a success, adding eco-mobility was a way forward for climate change.  

He said while a positive relationship was fostered with the taxi industry, citizens should consider the broad spectrum of public transport available."

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Stuck in traffic? You are the traffic

ENS: "JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, October 7, 2015 (ENS) – “When people complain that they are stuck in traffic, we tell them that they are, in fact, the traffic,” Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau said in Sandton on Sunday."

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Capetown, South Africa, workers demand better public transport

News24: "Cape Town - Hundreds of workers from various unions across the country have taken to the streets of Cape Town to march to Parliament for workers' rights.
...Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich told News24 that the national trade union is marching for better job protection, as well as a better public transport system."

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

'South Africans need reliable & safe public transport'

ewn : "“The first thing our people complain about when you meet them in the trains is reliability. Second, are issues of security. If people are not going to feel safe they are going to vote with their feet and take a transport mode of their choice that they feel will keep them safe.”"

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Joburgers urged to cycle, walk or use public transport:Sunday 4 October 2015

SABC News: "One of the aims of the Festival is to give people a preview of a future transport system where public transport, cycling and walking become the preferred transport mode of choice.  "

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

South Africa: Sandton choked by cars

biznews : " we also need to decongest Sandton. Sandton is really growing, but if everybody wants to come to Sandton using a private car, it will stop growing because Sandton would become a parking lot (or it already is). "


Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Ethiopia: Negatives of car culture

allAfrica.com: "People in Ethiopia continue striving to own personal automobile, vehicles not only to portray status but also success. Even if the car is old, beat-up moving steel, possessors still keep the respect and the title. It is considered a luxury as only few can afford to buy one."

Sunday, September 6, 2015

50 new Buses in Lagos, Nigeria

THISDAY LIVE: "“This is the first step towards increasing our fleet size to 1800 buses in 47 routes across the state and it is safe to say we are on track since we started operations in May this year.

“Our vision is to revolutionise the entire public mass transit system in Nigeria, starting from Lagos through a strict policy of not compromising on quality and standard of service.

“We have been consistent in the last three months of operations regarding our promises and policies; No standing, fully air conditioned, secured travel, on-board wholesome entertainment  efficient and timely arrival of buses at bus stops and very well maintained buses."

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Kigali, Rwanda committing to #publictransit and declaring #carfree zones

allAfrica.com : "Mobility in Kigali has been a priority in the last 15 years. The city set out to connect all suburbs with tarmac roads and drainages. Old fashion mini-buses were eliminated. 3 local bus companies were awarded 5-year contracts to transport more than 500,000 commuters every day.

The companies have the obligation to ensure that city commuters don't spend over 10 minutes at bus stage during rush-hours.

"We want to have all passengers cherish public transport, instead of spending heavily on cabs," said City Mayor Fidele Ndayisaba."



'via Blog this'

Monday, August 24, 2015

Rwanda Begins Implementing 'Car Free Zones' in Capital

PRNewswire : "KIGALI, Rwanda, Aug. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Effective August 24, no vehicles will be allowed in the heart of Rwanda's capital Kigali, widely regarded as the cleanest city in Africa.

Except special services vehicles such as ambulances, others are prohibited in the streets of the declared 'Car-Free Zone.'

"Normally, a city is for people not vehicles," said Luben Ahimbissibwe, director of infrastructure in the city. "We want to turn Kigali into a pedestrian-friendly city."  "

Monday, May 25, 2015

Auto system breaks down in Nigeria

InsideMainland: "The lingering fuel crises is gradually grinding the Nigeria state to a halt. Already, Nigerians can no longer fuel their vehicles or household power generators. The effect on the latter is made worse with national power supply now at 1,300 MW, the lowest in 16 years."

Monday, May 18, 2015

Ethiopia: Associations to Import 500 New Buses for Public Transport

allAfrica.com : "In order to ease the ever increasing high demand of the public transport in the capital, various transport service associations are about to import some 500 buses.

In a press conference held yesterday, Kassahun Haile-Mariam, Director General of the Federal Transport Authority (FTA), said that the introduction of the buses will play a vital role in alleviating the deep-rooted transportation complications in the city and it also paves a way to introduce modern city bus transport service."


Thursday, March 26, 2015

Why Much of Poor Black Africa Is Already in the Future

The Stranger: "Indeed, Beijing in the early '80s, when bicycles dominated its streets, was, in this sense, more in the future than it is now, when cars clog its streets and hog valuable space. China is going backward in so many ways. Progress has become a mixed bag. Black Africa must see and expand the future that already exists in many parts of its underdevelopment (I call this horizontal progress—as opposed to 20th-century vertical progress). The fact that 60 percent of trips in Addis Ababa are made on foot (6 percent in cars) is so 2015 and beyond; whereas the fact that just below 50 percent of commuters in Seattle are solo drivers is, though impressive for an American city, still so 1950s—a period, by the way, that madly imagined space travel in sterile, metal-clean spaces, whereas we now see correctly that travel into deep space will have to be muddy and with our messmates (life is not a thing but a system of things)."

Thursday, March 19, 2015

"Sandton, South Africa, would be a mere parking lot"

Sandton plan to fix transport mess - IOL Motoring Industry News | IOL.co.za: "Addressing Sandton businesses earlier this month, mayor Parks Tau said that unless the city started taking immediate steps, Sandton would be a mere “parking lot where people will not be able to get in and out”.

“We can't build more lanes, as there's no space. We need a combination of solutions,” he said.

“Part of this is our ability to effect commuter and motorists' behavioural changes. This is possible as we saw during the 2010 World Cup, where people used public transport. I believe it is possible to change commuter patterns.”"

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Palm oil risk to Africa as prospectors eye swaths of land

The Guardian: "Booming global demand for palm oil and limited room for the industry’s expansion in Asia have led large palm oil producers to look towards Africa. Companies are also betting on an explosion in demand from the European Union for palm oil as a sustainable fuel, and Africa is the closest palm oil-producing region."