Randolph There's a road that links Johannesburg with Pretoria, called the N1. It also connects Johannesburg with Cape Town, but the Pretoria link is the critical one, which I will examine today.
According to official reports (see related link), 160 000 trips are made daily on this stretch of freeway between two of the largest cities in South Africa, a distance of around 60km from CBD to CBD.
The latest joke … er, I mean plan … is to close off the fastest moving lane (traditionally the left lane – I'll explain why later) to vehicles with only one occupant. The aim is to encourage people to use public transport.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to laugh. Hahahahahahahahahaha.
Ok, back to the article. South Africans usually drive on the left side of the road, taking the lead from the UK. Therefore, slower moving traffic, including trucks, buses and old men in hats driving bakkies (pickups for you foreigners), usually keeps to the left. Some people have (unsuccessfully) attempted to drive on the right side of the road (being the wrong side), with deadly results.
Faster moving traffic, which would be people driving themselves to work all alone in their cars, traditionally keeps to the middle or right lane, depending on how many BMWs, 4x4s or (curiously) 1.3-litre Ford Tracers are bearing down on them from behind.
Another thing you should know (if you don't live in South Africa) is that we have tens of thousands of minibus taxis, all of whom seem to drive on the N1. By law they are restricted to driving at 100km/h or slower. They do not obey this law. In fact, the taxis I've seen are usually held together with cellotape, chewing gum, chicken wire, or any combination of the above, and drive at 297km/h in heavy traffic. Spectacular applause has ensued when one or more wheels fall off these minibus taxis simultaneously. They stop only to offload, take on, or swap passengers. Sometimes the latter happens in mid-flight. I've seen it with my own eyes. The drivers slow down enough to shout at each other to indicate the transfer, and in a Speed-like manner, trade passengers.
In a recent effort to replace these taxis with bigger buses (from Russia), it was said that the new Russian vehicles were "deathtraps".
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to laugh. Hahahahahahahahahaha.
I digress.
The public transport system, as it currently stands, consists of a number of large Volvo-made coaches, some older Mercedes-Benz-made double-decker buses for CBD travel, a few trains that run east-west and therefore completely useless for the Johannesburg-Pretoria route, and the minibus taxis which aren't publicly owned or operated.
Plans were launched to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup, and by some amazing luck, we landed the vote. Coincidentally, the premier (like a governor) of Gauteng, Sam Shilowa (his real name is Mbhazima, but that reminds me too much of the Lion King), wanted to implement a high speed rail link from Pretoria to Johannesburg, and Sandton to ORTIA (once known as Jan Smuts International Airport, then Johannesburg International Airport, and now O R Tambo International Airport).
This train is going to be called "Gautrain", and I've written about this before. I think it's a good idea. Anyway, this link is planned to resolve some of the traffic problems on the N1 freeway by the time it is completed. However, because of politicking, the due date of 2010 will not be met unless the Germans come to save us, much like they did for the Athens Olympics.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to laugh. Hahahahahahahahahaha.
There is a point to this article, and here it is:
There is no public transport system to speak of. Although only 11% of the population is white, these people make up most of the drivers on the road between Johannesburg and Pretoria. Notice I said "drivers". Because of the old ways of the country, many of these people feel uncomfortable travelling on public transport, let alone the minibus taxis that hazard our roads. It's a cultural issue, not a race issue. Even if it was a race issue, forcing single occupants of vehicles to drive behind trucks because they're not allowed to overtake is NOT going to make people use public transport, because a) the system cannot support the extra people, and b) white people WANT to drive their own cars.
Finish the Gautrain, buy more buses, replace the minibus taxis with roadworthy vehicles and SAFE drivers, and you might see a change, but closing off the fastest moving lane to cars carrying less than two people is silly, just like they said in the related link.