Current Edition >> Archives Section >> Leading Stories >> 8 May 2007

South Africa: Too many cars, too little roads

• Johann Dannhauser

Right through South Africa the problem is being experienced to a growing extent that the volume and intensity of traffic is proving too much for the road infrastructure. The number of vehicles are simply too much for the maintenance of present roads, let alone the construction of new roads. To a great extent a huge budget backlog is being accumulated in terms of the annual maintenance of road infrastructure.

It is calculated according to sales figures that more than 700 000 new cars enter the SA road network every year, leading to an exponential growth in the number of vehicles on roads in the country. The nett result is chronic congestion, which is having a serious detrimental effect on both productivity and quality of life.

In extreme cases the severest bottlenecks are occurring on urban freeways such as the N1 between Johannesburg and Pretoria, where it is even estimated that within about six years that particular stretch of road would need 18 lanes in order to cope with the traffic volume.

Engineering News is reporting that figures from the Road Traffic Management Corporation for January 2007 indicate that there are 2 968 293 motorized vehicles on Gauteng roads, 1 101 426 on KZN roads and 1 317 586 on the Western Cape's.

An upwardly mobile middle class coupled with increased access to car finance and the entry of a greater range of less expensive vehicle models into the market have all contributed to the vehicles problem as regards roads.

As to the solution, the first non-negotiable step would seem the development of acceptable public transport systems. A meaningful shift has simply to be made from private to public transport. Another solution is being put as the introduction of the “user pays” principle on