Noord Street taxi rank in Johannesburg. Picture: SUNDAY TIMES/ERIC MALEMA
The GTS aims to convert 5% of the public and national sector fleet to cleaner, alternative-fuel and efficient-technology vehicles. The GTS wants people to behave differently when it comes to getting around. It wants to align and develop policies that promote energy efficiency and emission control measures in all transport modes and to facilitate the transition towards a climate resilient transport system.
Where it comes to a green economy, there is a business case to be made for using minibus taxis as the short-distance travel mode of choice for all South Africans — not just the traditional customer base. First, minibus taxis are able to carry more persons than a private car per trip, which would help with decreasing congestion on our roads. Secondly, they are more flexible than larger buses that can only operate on major routes.
Minibus taxis are a far more flexible mode of transport and cost less to maintain than buses. Municipalities have invested the majority of funding into buses to turn them into alternative-fuel vehicles, even though taxis are responsible for transporting more than 70% of our workforce to and from work daily.
Electric vehicles still cost between two to three times the initial investment of a petrol or diesel vehicle. Although the operating costs over its lifetime are much lower than the fossil-fuel counterparts, it is the initial investment that scares the potential buyer away.