Pathways to Sustainable Public Transport: Analysing Modal Choice in Johannesburg

The incessant high rate of urbanisation in cities of the developing world continues to threaten mobility and access resulting in cities grappling to achieve sustainability. At the centre of this quagmire are concerns about the efficient functioning of public transport systems, particularly in African cities. Ostensibly, the quality of public transport services is deteriorating, more so in South African cities, resulting in constrained accessibility particularly for the urban poor and increased motor vehicle usage by the middle and high class households. This paper is based on a case study research design and a quantitative research approach to examine modal choice in public transport. Questionnaires were administered among the private vehicle owners and the public transport users to determine the factors affecting modal choice in the city. Preliminary findings reveal that the majority of commuters use public transport within the precinct but still quite a large number of people resort to private vehicle. The results highlight concerns within safety, convenience and stations that are highly polluted. Consequently, the challenges associated with conventional public transport, force those without their own vehicles to use paratransit modes of public transport which are often unregulated, major contributors of traffic congestion, reckless driving and hotspots for criminal activities. It is apparent that for people using public transport once they start affording to buy own vehicle, they would make a shift and this will increase environment consequences making our fight for sustainability far from over. The study concludes that public transport in a developing world needs to be understood from a holistic perspective to identify the leverage points which are critical points of intervention that may assist in planning for sustainable public transport