Abstract
There is a need for a well-functioning and well-tailored transportation system. Globally, many developed countries prioritise transportation as it plays a critical role in any country’s economy. This is because slower movement of people to work or any place of interest will lower production on any day. Furthermore, developed worlds integrate their public transportation modes to create seamless travelling plus an efficient, reliable, effective, efficient, sustainable transportation system, and enhance the quality of commuting. In the developing world, integrated public transport is not popular, and few countries have managed to develop integrated transportation systems. For integrated public transport to be feasible, there is a need for proper public transport systems to be developed in an area. In this regard, Johannesburg, in South Africa, is a developing city which has implemented the world class public transport Gautrain system (high-speed rail) and the Rea Vaya system (Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system) as well as non-motorised infrastructure. These systems were developed to assist the current available modes of public transport and afford a quality public transportation system which would attract many people including private motorised vehicle users. With this shift, challenges related to traffic congestion, air pollution, green-house gas emissions, public physical -health impacts, and noise pollution can be reduced.
However, with the developments of innovative public transportation systems, the city is still challenged by traffic congestion as many private vehicles users resist switching to innovative public transport system due to disintegrated innovative public transport systems hindering seamless travelling from southern areas of the city to the northern areas of the city. The cycling infrastructure has been dilapidating due to not been fully utilized. Therefore, this study explores the possibility of developing a smart integrated mobility framework to assist with integration of innovative public transport systems with non-motorised transport and ensure that the cycling infrastructure is well used, there is easy and quick access to innovative public transportation, and there is seamless travelling across the city.
To achieve this study, a suitable methodology was developed. A post-positivist research philosophy was deployed, supported by both pragmatism and constructivism to investigate possibilities for integration of innovative public and non-motorised transport. A case study research design was selected with the City of Johannesburg innovative public transportation and non-motorised transportation as the focus. An exploratory research design was adopted to explore possibilities of
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integrating innovative public transport and non-motorised transport. Finally, a mixed methodology was adopted which included, quantitative, qualitative and spatial approaches to glean the data. Quantitative data was obtained from Strava Metro to obtain cycling and pedestrian data indicating the level of cycling and walking across the city. Accordingly, spatial data was used to identify innovative public transport stations, route networks and the level of cycling activities. Qualitatively, in depth-interviews were conducted with key informants, and informal interviews were conducted with innovative public transport, and non-motorised transport and private motorised vehicle users. Observations were also conducted as they were instrumental in this study, and crowdsource data were used. Documented analysis, textual analysis, spatial analysis, and comparative analysis were used to analyse the data collected. The information was presented through textual format, images, graphs, Tables, and maps.
The results indicate that (i) Policies and legislative frameworks are synchronised with one another, they support and reveal a need to integrate public transport and non-motorised transport, frameworks such as National Land Transport Strategic Framework (NLTSF) compel all Metros to integrate public transport. Accordingly, they emphasise the importance of a modal shift from private motorised vehicles to public transport and non-motorised transport, and all the three spheres of government National, Provincial, and local are aligned. (ii) The work reveals huge developments of road and rail innovative public transport in a form of Gautrain system and Rea Vaya system. Similarly, there has been some reasonable development of non-motorised transport infrastructure, which includes cycling lanes and pedestrian sidewalks. With these transportation developments, there is visibility of spatial integration between Rea Vaya and Gautrain systems stations and non-motorised transport infrastructure feeding access to the various stations. However, there is no formal integration allowing commuters to switch between different modes to complete trips easily, especially, for commuters that need to connect to more than one mode to complete a trip as each innovative public transport system service’s its own locations which means that it becomes a struggle for commuters to reach certain areas (iii) Both the Rea Vaya and the Gautrain systems use electronic payment and information dissemination, therefore, this indicates the feasibility of having electronic integration between the two innovative public transportations as these systems provide electronic services within their operations. Accordingly, allowing an introduction of electronic integration between non-motorised transport and innovative public
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transport. The work contributes smart integrated mobility framework to the body of knowledge from all the above results.
The study concludes that, the possibility exists for integration within innovative public transport systems, as well as between innovative public transport and non-motorised transportation. Further, the study recommends the use of the smart integrated mobility framework to establish integrated transportation in the City of Johannesburg between the Gautrain and Rea Vaya systems, cycling and pedestrians. With the integration of these two innovative public transport systems, a larger spatial extent across the city can be covered. This creates seamless travelling and attract a larger number of private vehicle users to switch to public transport and non-motorised transport systems.
Keywords: Rea Vaya system, Gautrain system, non-motorised transport, innovative public transport integration, City of Johannesburg