RESCUE BUS SERVICE FROM COLLAPSING

(My second speech in Council yesterday)

The Transport Month Programme can only be lamented for its inability or lack of intention to involve the relevant role players in this field. It can safely be stated that the public at large did not even know about Transport month.
An important point mentioned in the report is Tshwane bus service campaigns.
The year 2010 can only be described as an Annus horibilis for the bus service which forms the most basic and vital component of the city’s public transport system. Consider the following facts:

•Changing the bus ticketing system without consulting political role players or the public saw the most irrational ticket system forced on commuters.
•According to our information close to half of the bus fleet is stranded in workshops due to financial and other problems.
•The road worthy status of many busses seem to be in jeopardy due to non-compliance with provincial regulations
•The morale of personnel at the bus service is at an all time low
• Regular bus service disruptions
•Labour disputes accompanied by violent threats to personnel who either expose corruption practices or personnel who simply want to carry on with their daily task.

The bus service is evidently in trouble. The contributing factors to this sorry state of affairs are either ignorance or arrogance or both. Who is in charge of the bus service, management or elements with a hidden agenda? What is needed to address the situation is the political will to do the right thing and to call management to account. Ignoring this call to rescue the bus service from collapsing will be at our own peril and at the cost of a reliable, accessible and affordable public transport system.