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Thursday / 6 February 2025
HomeFeaturesThe downfall of public transport in South Africa

The downfall of public transport in South Africa

Public transport like buses and trains used to be reliable and freely available in South Africa, but these times are long gone.

Today, taxis and private cars reign supreme when it comes to ferrying passengers from point A to point B, which has led to skyrocketing transportation costs for the nation’s citizens, as broken down by The Outlier.

In South Africa’s most populous province, Gauteng, a recent Quality of Life Survey found that in 2017, only 12% of residents spent between R1,000 and R2,000 a month on transport. Six years later, that increased to 17% of residents.

Likewise, only 4% spent more than R2,000 a month on getting around in 2017, which jumped to 13% by 2023.

That means nearly one in three residents were spending more than R1,000 a month on transport last year, reflecting a steep increase versus 2017 even when taking into account inflation and the increasing cost of living.

The survey further showed that transport costs for Gauteng citizens range anywhere from as low as R0 a month to upwards of R9,500 a month, with the median spend coming in at R500.

Individuals who cycle to their end destinations tend to spend the least, on average, with a monthly commuter cost of R100. This is even lower than for those who walk, as they claim an average of R150 a month.

At the other end of the spectrum, the 27% of Gautengers who said they primarily use their car to get to and from spend an average of R2,000.

By far the most popular form of transport in Gauteng remains minibus taxis, with just under 38% of the population stating that this is their go-to mobility solution. The median spend of taxi riders worked out to R350 a month.

Looking at train and bus users, only 0.6% of the Gauteng populace said they rely on the former and 1.2% on the latter.

The average monthly spend for trains worked out to R475 and for buses R600.

Buses and trains were the main transport mode for less than 2% of the surveyed population in 2023/4. Ten years ago, the survey found that 7% used them.

Minibus transport use has also decreased in the past decade. As much as 45% of respondents relied on these in 2013/14, and in the latest survey this fell to 38%.

Instead, people are now driving or walking where they need to go.

Despite being one of the most expensive transport options, the proportion of people driving a private car has increased from 17% to 27% in the past 10 years.

On the opposite side of the coin, the proportion of people who said walking was their primary means of getting around increased to 22%, from 14% in 2013/14.

Socio-economic influences

Transport modes in Gauteng differ substantially between low and high-income households, with the share of private car users rising the higher the socio-economic class.

Be that as it may, many people still opt for personal vehicles even in the lower class brackets, once again reflecting the decline in safe and reliable public transport in the country.

The survey revealed that cars are the main mode of transport (either as drivers or passengers) for more than 70% of the respondents in professions generally associated with higher incomes, such as managers and professionals.

It is only in the job seekers and ‘elementary occupations’ categories – which include gardeners, general workers, and cleaners – where less than a quarter of respondents drive in private cars.

Despite an increase in the availability of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Bolt, the numbers show that not many Gautengers rely on e-hailing for their transport needs.

Two-thirds of the surveyed population never use e-hailing services. For those who do, most only use them a couple of times a month.

The majority of regular e-hailing taxi users surveyed are primarily minibus taxi users, who likely take Ubers during the hours minibus taxis aren’t available.

More women than men e-hail, and the majority of e-hailing taxi users are in the lower and middle social class brackets.


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