Letter: Abandon IPTS plan

From previous reports it seems the Integrated Public Transport System, as we have come to know it in Port Elizabeth, was imposed on the government by Fifa to transport spectators to the stadiums for the 2010 World Cup.

This in turn was imposed on certain municipalities by the Department of Transport to implement.

The instruction handed down was that it had to be completed by 2010. We are nearing the end of 2016 with in excess of R2.3-billion having been spent on the project, which is still inoperative.

This is in spite of a contingent of 17 members, which included representatives of the taxi association and Algoa Bus Company, having visited towns in South America to view systems successfully operating. Streets in these cities were much wider and allowed for at least two additional lanes in each direction for traffic.

An executive summary by Pierre Joubert, which is available on the internet under BRT systems describes the project as a catastrophe. He warned that the system could not be shoehorned into Port Elizabeth’s narrow streets.

Some of the turns could not be negotiated by the longer bases and parts of the system were dismantled before 2012 to salvage what could be salvaged from a failed system.

Wherever it has remained it causes traffic congestion and in fact it has destroyed businesses in certain areas of Govan Mbeki Avenue.

Should this system not be abandoned until a suitable alternative can be found?

The taxi associations and bus company have proved that they can adequately handle the commuters.

Is the system financially viable or will it be an additional burden on ratepayers?