Gautrain vs Uber vs Driving – The winner is clear

There are several ways of getting around Gauteng, and it’s not always obvious which option is the fastest or the cheapest.

A private car may seem like the obvious choice, but not everyone has access to this option, and public transit alternatives like the Gautrain and e-hailing apps have their own advantages that shouldn’t be overlooked.

The best way to travel

TopAuto compared the cost and travel time of travelling by car, Uber, and the Gautrain to determine which option is the best in most situations.

To do so, we used the Gautrain station in Hatfield, Pretoria, as a starting point and looked at the time and distance it would take to reach the station all the way in Rosebank.

This route follows a singular line for 56.1km and does not require a train change, as is the case with anyone heading to Rhodesfield or O.R. Tambo International Airport.

The private car and Uber options were calculated using the same starting and end points, resulting in a 58.6km journey that mostly runs along the N1, often in parallel with the Gautrain.

We assumed an average fuel consumption of 7.0l/100km for the car, as this is a median figure that represents most cars on the road, from small hatchbacks to large SUVs and bakkies.

With this in mind, the trip will use approximately 4.1 litres of petrol, which works out to a tab of R88.64, based on April’s fuel price of R21.62 per litre.

The Gautrain cost and travel times were obtained from the service’s official website using the settings for a “pay as you go” fare, and the Uber cost was determined by using the mobile app on a weekday morning for a standard UberX car.

These were the results for each of the three modes of transport.

In this test, the Gautrain turned out to be the cheapest and fastest option, but this is not the whole story.

In most cases, a person will not be starting their journey at the Gautrain station unless they are dropped off by a family member.

Likewise, it’s possible the individual will still need additional transport from the station to reach their final destination, which means we need to add an extra bus far to the train tab.

Luckily, the Gautrain bus service doesn’t inflate the price too much, as it only costs R10 for both the start and end trip during off-peak hours, though this goes up to R24 when demand is high.

Since we calculated the Uber fare during morning rush hour, we have to add the R24 figure to maintain a fair comparison, which means the actual cost of using the Gautrain is R103.

This means it is more expensive than using a car, but it is still dramatically cheaper than an Uber.

We also looked at the price of the more affordable Uber Go service, but this still cost a hefty R312.47.

The other factor that is much harder to quantify is time, as there are several factors that can influence the arrival time of all three transport options.

The car’s travel time was determined using Google Maps at rush hour, but these apps tend to be optimistic in their calculations so the actual travel time is likely to be a bit longer than the above-mentioned figures.

The Uber will be similar to the private car, though you have to account for the added time it takes to order and wait for a driver to arrive.

That being said, the app showed several drivers in Pretoria who were only two minutes away when we set up the route, so this is not a big issue in practice provided you are ordering an Uber from an urban centre.

The Gautrain is the biggest unknown factor here, as the service’s website only shows the travel time for the train itself, including stops at other stations, and does not factor in the bus.

You also need to ensure that your schedule matches the train’s departure time. Otherwise, you may have to wait up to 20 minutes for the next one to arrive.

The train itself is faster than using a car, but the added time of getting on a bus and waiting in a station means a car is probably the quicker option unless you have to deal with severe congestion.

This means that a private car is generally the fastest and most cost-efficient choice overall, but one thing that shouldn’t be overlooked about the public transport options is that you don’t have to worry about finding and paying for parking, which could make all the difference if you’re going to a busy venue.