the gauteng spatial development framework - Gauteng Online

The very significant and bold investment into the Gautrain system has yet to work its logicon the urban system and there will no doubt be considerable relief on affected corridorsas this expanded bus and rail system takes effect.The reality, however, is that the SANRAL and Gautrain initiatives notwithstanding, (a) amega-city cannot be made to function with private mobility as its primary form of movement;(b) access to opportunity for the majority of the urban constituency cannot be satisfied bymerely implementing the GSRN road network; (c) the shape and form of the GSRN roadnetwork, regardless of the form it takes in terms of public transport systems that might beretro-fitted within its logic, may be at odds with the compact, complex transformed urbanstructure now proposed as the basis of the GCR's growth; and (d) a mega-city must bemade to rely not only on public transport but also, more importantly, on a mass transitsystem served by and integrated with a variety of other public transport systems.PRASA the nucleus of the overall integrated public transport system and authority. Theintention is, as far as possible, to structure the GCR in such a way so as to:• Reduce the need for commuting (greater integration of place of work and place ofresidence);• Make real alternatives available, at more localised levels, for non-motorised transport(walking and cycling);• Make passenger rail mass transit the backbone of the commuting system for the cityregion;• Integrate bus and taxi with the passenger rail system;There is a determination to base the growth of the GCR on sustainable, affordable, safe,convenient, integrated public transport. This commitment to public transport must becentral, and shared by all stakeholders, agencies and disciplines. Private mobility is to takeits place within the wider logics of public transport of passengers and a freight and logisticsstrategy. Not only is the urban structure to be predicated on public transport, there is acommitment to a public transport system based on mass transportation as the primaryelement, namely passenger rail, supported by dedicated Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), secondaryand tertiary bus routes and with taxis forming the lower order, short-haul, localshuttle services. The GCR cannot cope into the future as one of the world's mega-cities withoutmass rail transit as its basis.Gauteng has an extremely comprehensive and complex passenger rail network that hasbeen allowed to take secondary status over years of investment into more road-basedtransportation. PRASA, as the passenger rail authority, has the renewed commitment to reinvestmentin an aged inventory of rolling stock, modernisation and further integrationof the overall system, re-positioning its services as the primary passenger mover, improvingits levels of affordability and quality, coverage and accessibility, convenience, frequency and,above all, safety. At the core of the urban structure for the GCR, there must be the recommitmentby all stakeholders to this primary role performed by PRASA and to make• Use BRT as shapers of urban structure and form (Curitiba refers) and paralleling thesewith passenger rail only where rail capacity cannot sensibly be increased;• Use taxi movement for more localised distribution or on routes not sensibly served byhigher-order public transport systems;• Create more capacity and right-of-way for high-occupancy vehicles on the major roadnetwork;• Optimise the role and functionality of the existing and future network to be responsiveto the focus on public transport in the region;• In respect of the urban structure of the GCR, public transport is to be a primaryshaper of urban form and policy and a basis for directing intensity, use and form ofnew development and the intensification and complexity to be added to existingpatterns of development; and• Urban development initiatives, whether private or public, must specifically demonstrate(a) how they are to be served by public transport; (b) how they are furthering theANNEXURE B: POLICY POSITION PAPERSGAUTENG SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK 2011GAUTENG GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY146