Transport Planning in the City of Johannesburg and the Zandspruit area

The City of Johannesburg (City) prepares many different plans to guide development in the City. The Joburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy (GDS) was approved in 2011 and sets out the long-term development path for the City. It also provides the foundation for the five-year Integrated Development Plan (IDP) which is the main medium-term development plan for the City. The GDS also provides strategic direction for the other medium-term plans for the spatial, infrastructure, housing and transport sectors.

One sector plan that forms part of the five-year IDP is the Spatial Development Framework (SDF). The SDF 2040 was prepared in 2016 as a spatial policy document that sets the spatial vision for the City. The SDF directs sustainable urban growth and development to address the inequality and inefficiency in the City. Cities are largely founded on connectivity and access. They are places where people and businesses concentrate to gain access to services and amenities. These include jobs, economic activity, schools, healthcare facilities, services, cultural and religious experiences, leisure, entertainment as well as interaction with other people. The SDF says that the City needs to transform from a spread out, car-oriented city to a compact, polycentric (many different urban nodes), mixed use and walkable City. Compact cities are more efficient and productive. They are also more sustainable and promote the use of public transport rather than the private car. The future polycentric Johannesburg will bring jobs to residential areas and housing opportunities to employment areas rather than transporting people between the two. It will create complete nodes with good public transport connections where people can live, work and play and it will bridge spatial and social barriers to build a spatially just City.

Since the early 2000s, the City’s strategy for managing urban growth can be described as one of compaction to promote higher density, mixed use development in well located parts of the City, rather than outward sprawl (spreading the footprint of the city). Compact development allows people to live close to where they work and go to school and promotes easy access to public transport and other services. For this planning to work, high intensity development must be concentrated in clearly defined ‘well located’ areas. These areas are described as nodes in the SDF. The SDF required a review of existing nodes in the City and as a result the Nodal Review Policy (NRP) was completed in 2020. In the NRP the Zandspruit and Cosmo City node is termed a Local Economic Development Zone which has poor facilities, high unemployment and few economic opportunities. The NRP prioritises interventions that will create economic opportunities in these nodes.

The Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan (CITP) is another sector plan that forms part of the five-year IDP. The City prepared the Strategic Integrated Transport Plan Framework (SITPF) as the first part of the CITP in 2013. The SITPF provides an overview of transport in the City and outlines nine strategies to achieve the transport vision and goals of the City. The main priority is to move away from private car use towards improved mobility and accessibility for people through improvements to the public transport system. The key strategy is Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), which aims to create strong, high-frequency public transport corridors with high density residential development alongside the corridors and complex, mixed land use development in the precinct nodes on these corridors. The City will develop integrated transport hubs in the TOD precincts and improve the surrounding public environment where it is unsafe or unattractive, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists. This will attract mixed use development and inclusionary, high density housing to the precincts.

The City has a Framework for Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) which has identified 7 priority areas for the implementation of NMT infrastructure and one of these areas is the Zandspruit / Cosmo City Priority Route to Northgate. The new Cosmo City Gautrain Station is being planned close to Northgate and this NMT infrastructure will now increase in importance. NMT refers mainly to walking and cycling which are most appropriate for feeder routes to public transport stops and stations or as the main mode of transport for short-distance, learner and convenience related trips. NMT also includes waste reclaimers who use trolleys, parents with prams, the elderly and very young, commuters with suitcases, as well as universal access for disabled users. Universal access refers to the elimination or reduction of physical barriers through design principles that ensure transport infrastructure and services are accessible to as many people as possible and especially those with special physical and mental needs. Internationally, distances from 500m up to 1km and walking times of 30 minutes to jobs or school and 15 minutes for trips to the shops or services are considered reasonable while destinations should be within 10km for cycling. Many trips in the City cover longer distances than this so NMT routes also need to help people reach public transport stops and stations. The City aims to prioritise cyclist and pedestrian movements within streets and provide independent cycle and pedestrian only paths that are separated from vehicles on roads with high traffic volumes. Safe routes to school, links to public transport facilties, security features like lighting, good sight lines, signage and CCTV cameras are all important features of NMT infrastructure as well as cycle storage facilities and lockers at transport facilities like Gautrain stations and taxi ranks or destination points such as schools, sports grounds and community facilities.

The current street environment does not prioritise pedestrian or cycle movements. When streets are designed and constructed for all road users they become safer, more attractive and user friendly. The City has introduced the Streets Alive programme which has an infrastructure component called “Complete Streets” with a strong focus on sidewalks, dedicated or managed lanes for public transport, cycling and freight, traffic calming, urban functionality and management as well as attractive public spaces. Complete Streets are streets which are safe and convenient for everyone, regardless of age, ability or mode of movement. The City wants all its streets to be “complete” in the long term and it will focus on creating continuous cycling and pedestrian routes and networks.

Public transport facilities are also a key priority for the City and it is important to make these facilities safe, secure and attractive if they are to attract good quality, mixed use development to TOD precincts. Pedestrian and cycle access and proper passenger information and signage are also essential components. The City has developed a new model for medium-sized public transport facilities which includes trading stalls, holding facilities, loading bays for buses, minibus taxis and metered taxis, wash bays, offices, a commuter square, ablution facilities, a control room with CCTV cameras, waste bins, a tower clock, destination boards and an intercom system. Smaller on-street facilities, where the road reserve is wide enough, may include loading bays, some holding bays, some trading stalls and other infrastructure. The City will ensure that all public transport facilities are well managed so that they are clean, safe, secure and do not become run down.

Proper planning for freight transport is also a key priority for the City. Freight transport is a vital component of the supply chain and is essential for economic growth in the City. Some of the negative impacts caused by loading and off-loading freight, such as double parking, can be addressed by the provision of sufficient loading bays which are properly designed with a minimum length of 12m and through proper policing to ensure bays are not used illegally by motorists.

The City’s Transport Department is responsible for all transport planning in the City and it has developed a high-level public transport, NMT and freight network plan which sets out the best transport mode for different routes. It also identifies the public transport routes for City investment, the NMT routes and a 10-year plan for funding. The Zandspruit and Surrounding Areas Transport Master Plan is a new transport planning project of the City’s Transport Department.