Public Transport (2004 and 2008)

Some of the key findings reported in the 2004 CPTR and included in the iLembe IPTN were the following:

• 15 200 person trips over a 12-hour period and 5 900 over a four-hour peak period were recorded at the surveyed count locations. ( This represents approximately 25% of the total person trips that would have been recorded for a full survey).

• The am peak period PT modal split was:

• • Minibus-taxi  89%

  • Bus    8%

  • Bakkie taxi    3%

• Throughout the entire 12-hour period, 97% of the combined bus and minibus-taxi service capacity was utilized and during the peak period many of the services operated above capacity.

• During the same 12-hour period, 13% of the routes for bus and minibus-taxi services operated with load factors (LF) > 90%; the remaining routes operating with LF’s between 50% and 90% (where LF = passengers ÷ capacity of service).

• During the four hours am peak, 15% of the routes operated with LF’s > 90%; the remainder operating with LF’s between 50% and 90%.

• In total, seventeen significant loading points within iLembe, loosely described as ranks were identified. Of these, five were described as formal, having some limited form of infrastructure.

• Buses were reported to operate from four of these ranks on a shared basis with minibus-taxis, there being no exclusive bus ranks.

• A north-south rail line along the coastal plain with eight rail stations within the DM was used for passenger transport. Sixteen trains per day operated in each direction between KwaDukuza town and Durban, but daily passenger loadings were light.

• Trip purpose for trips made by the dominant minibus-taxi mode were reported as follows:

• • Home-based Work (HBW)    28%

  • Home-based School (HBS)  4%

  • Home-based Other (HBO)    40%

  • Non-Home-based (NHB)    28%

According to the iLembe IPTN study the following primary conclusions are based on an assessment of the above points.

• There are few formal ranks and limited infrastructure has been provided for operators and for passengers.

• In many areas, service frequency and level of service is poor.

• Approximately 15% of the routes captured by the 2004 survey carry the bulk of the passenger demand and these are short of capacity.

• Throughout the day the average high load factor on the busy routes suggests a relatively poor level of off-peak service.

In 2008 the KZN Department of Transport (KZN DoT) decided that the available demand and supply information contained in the 2004 CPTR required an update to ensure reliable and up to date information for analysing the requirements for a structured and more rationalised public transport system for iLembe District.

During the initial phase of updating the 2004 CPTR information it was identified that there is a need for a major intermodal public transport facility at KwaDukuza. The subsequent surveys in 2008 were used to provide information required to determine the appropriate size of such an intermodal public transport facility.

The extent of the 2008 public transport surveys has been described in detail in the iLembe IPTN study. The extent of the surveys and the methodology followed included the following.

• The public transport supply and demand surveys cover the entire DM.

• Surveys were conducted at selected residential area locations in the am peak (06h00 – 09h00) and at selected work zones in the pm peak (15h30 – 18h30). Continuous in/out control counts were also conducted at selected sites throughout the day.

• Minibus-taxi routes from many residential areas did not pick up full passenger loads at a defined start point for the route, rather picking up passengers along the roadside throughout the residential area. The service frequency and passenger loading for these counts was surveyed at a convenient intercept location where minibus-taxis would generally be fully loaded. These were defined as residential cordon counts (RCC’s).

• In total eleven existing ranks/terminal points and thirteen RCC’s were counted and at ranks where there was significant morning and evening activity, surveys were carried out in both periods.

On the supply side, information was captured by mode and by route for:

• Route location

• Route length

• Departure times from point of origin and

• Capacity

On the demand side, passenger loading information by mode and route was collected for each trip throughout the survey period.

As part of the development of the iLembe IPTN study, in 2011, the available information from 2008 was again updated using similar survey methods which were refined to ensure adequate public transport information that could be used to develop the iLembe IPTN.

The following methodology was used in updating the public transport supply and demand information. This was done after the public transport routes were updated based on GIS imagery and based on extent of new developments within the study area.

• A series of screen line PT occupancy counts on the main travel corridors, with corroborating PT vehicle in and out counts at the main PT ranks were conducted.

• Vehicle occupancy surveys were done at selected locations along the main public transport corridors; and

• Rank facility surveys were done at selected ranks in KwaDukuza, Mandeni, Maphumulo, Ballito and Shakaskraal.

The result of the updated 2011 surveys were converted into passenger trips for the different LMs within iLembe DM. Table 2 shows a summary of outcome of the surveys.

Table 2: Summary of PT passengers within KwaDukuza (iLembe IPTN)

Table 3 below shows some additional public transport statistics for KwaDukuza based on 2006 iLembe Quality of Life Survey report.

Table 3: Summary of preferred mode (iLembe Quality of Life Survey 2006)