Creeps

It's happened twice now that while I've been out walking, men have approached me in cars to ask if I was OK.  I think it is worth noting that both times the men were white and the overall tone was "a nice white girl like you shouldn't be walking alone."  It's also worth noting, with exasperation, that both times I was walking in Saxonwold, quite a locked-down secure suburb if ever there was one.  It's somewhat shocking to me that men think I would actually get in the car with a stranger (my mother's #1 gigantic no-no when I was a child) rather than walk 25 minutes through a leafy neighborhood to the bus.  Similarly, a very nice man that I work with said to me today, "I saw you walking here -- is everything OK?  Are you safe?"  I appreciate his concern and I understand that I look different than the average person strolling past, oh, the man selling boiled cow's head down the road, but the overall idea is the same.  Times like these make me think THIS COUNTRY IS INSANE!  Somehow it would be fine to get in a car with a complete stranger, but it's not OK to take a peaceful walk?  What's a gal gotta do to take a walk around here?  I'll say it again: if more people who looked like me got out of their houses and cars and walked, the fear and mystery would evaporate.  The streets would safer and more pleasant.  I know that there can be real risks and I know that I'm not invincible.  But I also refuse to fall into the trap of thinking that every person on the street is inherently bad or out to hurt me.  I think I'm proof that the risk is not as imminent as people imagine.  As it is, I think 3 very real and immediate dangers of walking are 1) cars driving dangerously and not yielding to pedestrians, 2) UV exposure from the harsh sunlight, and 3) falling bird poop.

Why I walk

Now that my commute has become so routine, I don't think much about it anymore.  But today I realized how much I appreciate the part of the commute that most people assume is the worst: the walk.  When I describe my commute to others, most people frown when I say that I walk 25 minutes to Zoo Lake before getting on the bus, and then walk back again after work.  Often I think this disclosure actually evokes pity or shame about my car-free situation.  So today I thought about what it would be like if I drove straight home.  Sure, I probably could get home quicker, but my walk is my break time; my time to think and not to think.  It clears my head after a busy day and is a welcome, leafy respite from staring at a glowing screen at work before sitting in front of another one or two at home.  The added perk is peeking through the gates of the zoo and seeing antelopes, zebras, guinea fowl and even sometimes hearing an irritable lion.  Even an afternoon rainstorm is more of an amusing adventure than a hassle.  Plus there's the obvious exercise benefit, which in my book translates to more dessert.  Of course it would be great to sleep in an extra 25 minutes in the morning, but the summer sun starts nudging me awake at 5:30am anyway, so that's pretty much a lost cause.  Being a city gal for my entire adult life, long walks are an essential part of my lifestyle, and I'm happy to have adapted to life in Jo'burg without giving up something so vital.

Mandie's visit

Diary of an epic car-free day...

7:05 am
Awaiting the timely arrival of the 80F

7:25 am
Grabbing the sweet seats on the upper deck of the MetroBus

8:05 am
Ms. SPF 3000 leads the last leg of the journey to Mangwanani on foot

8:30 - 5pm
Maxin', relaxin', etc, etc.

6pm
Two greased-up chicas catch the last Putco bus headed south from Fourways

8pm
Rose Taxi takes us out on the town

Gautrain, or, how not to operate a bus service

I've heard some rumblings in the media about the lack of ridership on Gautrain buses, as if it is an indication of the unwillingness of Jo'burgers to embrace public transport.  Certainly, I see the buses run frequently and I've never seen more than 2 passengers at a time on one.  Mind you, I'm usually viewing this through the window of a MetroBus crammed with people.  So, what gives?  Why would the public -- seasoned bus riders or otherwise -- forgo such swank new rides?

Is it that the routes are foreign?  Yes, but they also fill in necessary gaps that MetroBus omits, so surely there would be a demand there.  Is it because they cost more?  Possibly, but at R20 a trip, I think they're still pretty affordable.

I realized the enormous problem with the Gautrain buses when I tried to catch a lift on the Fourways to Sandton route.  I'd wondered if you could pay with cash, so I checked out the website.  You can't!  OK, well, not to worry too much.  I already had a Gautrain gold card from a train ride a few months ago -- I'd just refill it.  Good luck with that.  To refill your card you have to go to...the Gautrain station.  Where the bus takes you!  Ah logic, you old devil, you.

So I did further research (that's what I'm here for, folks) and found out that there now are a few additional locations where one can purchase a bus pass.  And one was in Fourways -- I was in luck!  Departing for an early lunch break, I spent more than an hour navigating the endless dreck of Fourways, and after asking three different people for directions, I finally came upon the Pineslopes Spar.  With card in hand, I asked at the customer service desk to add bus fare, and was pointed towards a machine where, along with airtime for all cell carriers, was one button for the Gautrain card preloaded with R30.  Yep, R20 for the bus and R10 for the card.  So much for those reusable cards we've all been carrying around!

According to the Gautrain website there are now six -- SIX! -- such machines throughout the entire city of Jo'burg.  So, those are your options for filling up your card, unless you do that at the station.  Sorry, but what is so hard about putting these machines in more places?  Certainly the ones with just airtime are everywhere. 

Gautrain buses are doomed for failure, plain and simple, and it's such a damn shame.  When it happens, it won't actually be an indictment of public transport in this city, but watch how many people will claim that it is.  It will be due purely to poor management decisions about the bus operations.  The buses already don't run on weekends or public holidays -- exactly the time when folks might want to dash off for a short getaway.  But when they do operate, they're empty because the people who run the show made it too damn tough to get onboard.  If you want people to accept your buses, you can't make them jump through hoops to do it.  Tickets should be available everywhere, or better yet...JUST TAKE CASH!

Catching up on a life in transit

Happy car-free day! Please don't hit the schoolgirl.

Well, well, much to catch up on in this busy city. Happy car free day, everyone! It was Wednesday. Oh, did you miss it? So did pretty much the whole city, so don't feel bad! I looked for obvious signs of this: I spotted the street advertisements (A+!), heard that Rea Vaya and Gautrain buses were free (hello, Metrobus?!?) and even heard John Robbie briefly talk about it on 702. But pretty much, it was a wash. Apparently some city officials were planning to take public transport for the whole day, bless 'em, but seems like just a drop in the bucket without the involvement of corporations, civic organizations and all arms of government.

My side

The other side

My own personal car-free experience continues unabated and with quite a big shift. Helen Joseph is out for a while and Witkoppen Clinic (Fourways) is in. For 6 weeks there I was loving doing hard-core statistical coding everyday, even starting to dream in SAS code (when I coded my life, the covariates were binary...should I worry?). But after making the switch from data geek to working in the clinic, I'm completely loving the other side of the job, which is the rugged, unpredictable and rewarding one. Working in Fourways is kinda a mind fuck. Clearly my clinic is on the wrong side of the Nicol, in that stark dichotomy that South Africa seems to have perfected. Across the street is a Checkers Hyper, car dealerships, new housing developments, and everything that comes with the gleaming ever-expanding geography of upmarket Jo'burg. On our side, though, we've got dirt paths, school girls jumping rope, women with big boiling pots over open fires, men selling fat cakes, and lots and lots of HIV and TB patients. If you know me, you know I'll take my side any day.

Fat cakes!

And Metrobus hasn't let me down. I now take just one bus, where Helen Joseph required a transfer in Braamfontein. The bus back in the afternoon is an experience, for sure. Walking to the Fourways Mall, I'm friendly with the dudes selling sun hats, pirated DVDs, wallets, oh, you name it. In the mall parking lot, you sometimes get the odd entrepreneur selling seriously random things. I think seeing two dudes selling R10 Parmalat yogurt 6-packs out of the back of their car takes the cake. And the guy selling eggs. Hmm, yogurt and eggs...could there even be anything more perishable to be selling in the open sunlight?! And the return trip on the bus is such a festive social scene of working people of all ages and races. Everyone knows everyone's name. Ladies sell frozen popsicles and bags of chips for R2 or R3 as soon as the wheels start rolling. Times like these make me smile, but also a bit sad when I think about how many people miss out and just don't get it with the bus. The idea that the bus is a dangerous haven for crime is just plain wrong. If anything, it's one of the most integrated, harmonious environments that I encounter regularly, and all it's missing is more white South Africans to make it even more fully representative. What say you, folks? Won't you you step aboard?

Where the sidewalk ends

Your flowers are pretty, but I want my sidewalk back

One thing I regularly see in Jo'burg that I've never noticed in another city is the personal claiming of the sidewalk/pavement by homeowners. Parkhurst is almost comically egregious for this. One minute you're casually walking on the pavement, and the next minute it disappears into a modernist landscaping fiasco leaving you to veer out into the street. Seriously, you can weave back and forth between pavement and street for block after block in some neighborhoods.

Fancy landscaping + safe pedestrian passage?  Well done!

I understand and appreciate the beautification aspect of said landscaping, but Jo'burg is major city with a large population! In other big cities, you can get a whopping fine just for parking your car on the sidewalk for a few minutes. But in Jo'burg, you apparently can claim the pavement all for your very own, sending pedestrians out to the streets to fend with the cars. In a city with a shocking rate of pedestrian deaths, maybe safe urban planning actually begins at home.

Stepping away from the ledge (yay to Yara!)

Well, well, what a difference a day makes! Today at work, apropos of nothing, my coworker Yara and I discovered that we both are in the car-free club. Yara is a hip Mozambican researcher (and hopefully future contributor to this blog) who actually owns a car, but dislikes driving in Jo'burg and simply prefers taking the bus and walking. And man, does she know her stuff! She was 100 times better than the Metrobus call centre in explaining the (many!) buses that could drop me directly in front of Helen Joseph. She even understands the secret language of the bus numbers. We also swapped stories about the weird misconceptions that people who don't ride the bus have about it and its passengers, and about walking in this city: people have slowed down in their cars and asked if she was OK! She even took me with her on her return trip so that I could see where to transfer in Braamfontein. Tomorrow: a new bus adventure begins! And this weekend: no car shopping! I think it was pure divine intervention that we happened to have this conversation on my second day of work, instead of, oh, three months after I'd bought a pricey car that I can't afford and don't want to drive. Thanks, Yara!

She walks hard for the money

Day 1 of the new job! There’s so much to feel excited about: really nice people, a thoughtful orientation, the giddy feeling when people say, “this is Kate, she’s an epidemiologist.” Oh, but then there’s the bad news: I can’t get there.

Yesterday I phoned my buddies at Metrobus and asked them how to get from Killarney to Helen Joseph Hospital. The woman at the call centre told me that there were no buses that could take me. I threw out a few other options, like connecting via Empire Road, and we finally came up with a couple of iffy ideas. The big problem is that I need to go in a southwesterly direction during the morning commute, and northeasterly for the evening, and the system is designed for the opposite direction. I’m literally swimming against the stream.

It probably would have been wise to give the route a test run first, but I didn’t have a chance – fortunately I’d accidentally said I’d be there at 8:30 when I’d actually meant 8:00; turns out I needed every last minute to avoid being late on my first day.

My trip started well by hopping on a southbound #1 bus on Oxford Road. The bus driver had decorated her bus with newspaper clippings of wildlife! Feeling resolute, I exited at Empire Road instead of going all the way to Gandhi Square. Unfortunately, it was further east on Empire – more towards Clarendon – than I wanted, so I had to walk over to the Wits area. This meant navigating the sketchy, tree-lined section of Parktown near that dodgy park. First I encountered a frighteningly friendly woman who started following me after saying hello (good thing I’m a fast walker), and then I was called a “white bitch” by a young man after I didn’t respond to his “hellloooo.” And this was by 7:30!

Still, I was determined to catch a bus near Wits, but kept walking to keep up time. And walking. And walking. Further and further…Yeah, you see where this story is going! Eventually I realized I was going to walk the whole damn way again and reluctantly picked up the pace.

Let me just say that this walk is terrible. Not only is it along noisy major roads (Empire and Kingsway) with a few hold-your-breath-and-run moments, but also most of Kingsway is under construction so that the pavement on each side is completely ripped up to eventually install a pipe or cable. For most of the walk, I was teetering on the curb, as if a balance beam, with a gaping meter-deep ditch to my left and minibus taxis whizzing by to my right. When I finally made it to work, I had to use the serviette from my packed lunch to clean off my filthy dirty feet and shoes before I met my new coworkers! Not a polished start to the new job!!

And guess what I did on the way back? The same. Yep, the old walk-til-the-bus-arrives game that resulted in another 5 miles walked over an hour and 45 minutes. By the time I got home, I was aching and grimy.

There are 2 more work days left to this week. Tomorrow I’m taking an expensive taxi both ways. On Friday I will try one more (quite circuitous) bus option that involves going first to Gandhi Square then catching another bus that goes along Kingsway.

But it’s clear that unless I’m willing to rely on my trusty 10 toes for 10 miles a day, I just can’t get there from here, sadly. So, this weekend...car shopping. I don’t have a clue where to start and I find the very thought completely daunting, but I gotta get to work. To be sure, my pedestrian adventures will continue, but probably (hopefully) not from M-F 8-4:30!

NYC traffic fatality report: lessons for Jo'burg too

This week, the New York City Department of Transportation published a major report that for the first time explored over 7,000 auto crashes that resulted in pedestrian or injury death.  Describing the report as "equal parts safety manual and urban portrait," an article in the New York Times highlighted some of the findings, which certainly resonated with my experiences walking in Johannesburg.  My earlier post about the difficulty crossing the street in designated crosswalks rings true in the Big Apple too:  expressing surprise at the findings, the article reports, "Jaywalkers were involved in fewer collisions than their law-abiding counterparts who waited for the “walk” sign," though pointing out that "they were likelier to be killed or seriously hurt by the collision."

Looking at the report itself, there are extremely important findings that any city should carefully note.  Pedestrians are incredibly vulnerable: they accounted for over half of traffic fatalities and were over 10 times more likely than a motor vehicle occupant to die in a crash.  Driver education is lacking: most drivers did not know the city's standard speed limit.  And speed kills: crashes involving pedestrians and vehicles were twice as deadly if unsafe speeds were involved.  Jo'burg city officials would be wise to look to this report and understand that this deadly combination of pedestrians + vehicles + unsafe speeds is an everyday occurrence here too.

One of the most interesting conclusions of the report was the financial bottom line: traffic crashes are costing New York City $4.29 billion (yes, billion with a B) a year.  In addition to the lives lost and disabled, there is a real cost that cities pay for emergency services, clean-up and more.  Understanding this toll helps to justify allocating resources for research to conduct local studies to understand the nature of Jo'burg's crashes, education of drivers and pedestrians, and enforcement of traffic laws.  New York should be applauded for conducting this critical research, but more importantly, creating an action plan to address the results and improve the safety of its streets through smarter planning.  Perhaps the greatest lesson of this landmark NYC study is that a city can either spend money averting pedestrian deaths or dealing with the aftermath, and that really isn't a tough decision at all.

Tarred, (un)deterred?

The good news is that I got a new job.  It’s an exciting one that fits well with my unique mid-PhD situation and promises a whole big office full of new smart people to meet.  Working from home has been good for paying the bills and having lots of time for ridiculously long walks, but bad for isolation.  Now the new job may bring about what everyone has said is inevitable: getting a car.

The problem is that my new office is at Helen Joseph Hospital in Westdene, but I also will need to make frequent trips to a clinic up in Fourways.  From Killarney to Westdene to Fourways…yep, I’ve pretty much got Jo’burg covered.  I was psyched to find a bus to Fourways, but getting there from Westdene is another story.  I haven’t made up my mind yet, and certainly I’ll try out a few bus options before I make any big purchases, but it’s not looking like a perfect bus route is going to miraculously appear. 

To get to Helen Joseph yesterday for a meeting, I took a taxi in the morning for R110 ($15) one-way – clearly not a viable long-term option.  When I left, I purposefully tried to avoid anyone noticing that I was headed out of the parking lot on foot, discreetly stopping at the end to swap my classy heels for my walking flats.  This is one aspect of being a car-free Jo’burger that is unfailingly frustrating: when people hear that I walk or take the bus, they balk.  This follows with declarative sentences starting with “You can’t…”  Actually, I can!  I do!  Just because you never have doesn’t mean that it’s not possible to get from point A to point B by foot or by bus.  People’s faces divulge that they assume that I’m naïve or somehow misinformed to make the choices that I do, when in fact, I spend a lot more time considering my trips than the average Jo’burger.

The walk back was just so-so.  Fortunately, it was a Friday, the weather was great, and I was feeling giddy from a new job offer so I didn’t really notice the 8.5 km (5 mile) distance.   But let’s just say that the walk wasn’t one of Jo’burg’s finest: dusty dirt paths instead of pavement, traffic lights out, roadworks with fresh tar that I’m still scrubbing off my legs!  All and all, an hour and a half (each way) walk to work is pretty impractical.

I had just missed a Metrobus by about 30 seconds, so that was promising, if not bad timing.  More interesting was the Rea Vaya station under construction right outside the hospital!  This new bus rapid transit (BRT) system garnered tremendous praise during the World Cup, which was especially gratifying given the horrific events that occurred during the planning and construction stages.  While the idea of zipping to work rapid-transit style excites me, a system is only as good as the locations it serves, and I’d still have to make tricky connections in town to access the Rea Vaya. 

Maybe all the Jo’burgers who had their first public transportation experience on the Rea Vaya during the World Cup now will understand how how urgently it needs to be expanded to serve broader locations.  Previously Saxonwold residents had objected to a proposed Rea Vaya Oxford Road expansion – a public transport improvement that would have a hugely positive impact on my life, as well as countless others – and I wonder if the glowing reviews during the World Cup changed anyone’s mind.  Scores of people are relying on the BRT every day as safe, efficient transportation between Soweto and the CBD, but others view it as a charming novelty of the World Cup: just a memory of those vuvuzela-filled happy days and proof that South Africa fulfilled its promises.  I say let's keep it, let's use it, and by all means, let's expand it so that it can really live up its potential as an essential public transportation system in this city that so sorely needs new options.  Then South Africa will show that it not only delivers world-class transportation systems because Sepp and the boys are watching, but because its citizens deserve the best.

Cross walking

Ouchy

Spend a day or two walking around Jo’burg and you’ll quickly realize that, contrary to popular belief, your major safety concern isn’t your fellow pedestrian out to rob you, but all the cars that are eager to run you down.  As much as I advocate walking in this city, the simple truth is that Johannesburg does not make it easy for pedestrians.  The primary issue is the impunity of traffic violators: drivers feel invincible even as they behave badly – and dangerously.  Nearly every day I hear a car roar past me at wildly high speeds appropriate for a racetrack, not narrow residential streets.  A common practice for the impatient driver is to create a passing lane where one does not exist on a narrow 2-lane street.  But more than anything, the hardest part of being a pedestrian is crossing at crosswalks. 

An essential part of life in any major city is waiting at the crosswalk for the light to turn.  In other cities, a green light sets forth a huddle of people crossing the street while cars watch and wait to turn.  In Jo'burg, though, even when a pedestrian has the green ”walk” sign, turning cars whiz through the crosswalk while pedestrians literally jump out the way.  It's interesting that many stoplights in Jo’burg have walk/don’t walk indicators: a positive sign that the city has considered its pedestrians at some point.  However, the lights don’t do a damn thing when you have to contend with turning cars that do not yield the right of way.  Add to this the common situation of drivers talking on their cell phones, not using their turning indicators and running red lights, and the crosswalks – designed to safely guide pedestrians across streets – become unsafe spaces engaged in a "Will he? Won't she?" dangerous dance.  With the crosswalk eliminated as a safe passing area, I choose one of two unsafe options: run through the crosswalk dodging cars or cross the street away from the crosswalk (ie, jaywalk).   Crossing in the middle of the road is actually much easier since you can see cars coming in both directions without having to anticipate sudden turns.  However, this is illegal and unwieldy, and not a situation that Jo'burg should advocate.

Over the years, so many people have told me that pedestrians do not have the right of way in South Africa that I accepted it as fact until I actually looked it up: part 1 of the Department of Transportation’s Rules of the Road states, “2) The driver of a vehicle shall yield the right of way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a pedestrian crossing when the pedestrian is upon that half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is travelling, or when the pedestrian is approaching so closely from the opposite half of the roadway as to be in danger.”  Without the jargon: traffic must yield to pedestrians at crosswalks.

Pedestrians definitely get a bad rap in Jo’burg and South Africa in general.  Of the 10,000 people who die on South Africa’s roads every year, 40% are pedestrians. There are big differences in the pedestrian experiences and safety issues of rural and urban walkers, and on this blog I’m only focusing on city walking around Jo’burg.  Often I hear drivers complain about walkers stepping right out in front of them, and certainly I see this happen regularly.  But if crosswalks were a viable option, there wouldn’t be such a need to dash in front of oncoming traffic.  Pedestrians need to share the responsibility of moving safely about the streets, but the current environment needs to provide better support in order to achieve this.

In order to make Jo’burg the safe walking city that it could be, the first place to start is the crosswalks.  Enforcement of traffic laws for both drivers – yielding at crosswalks – and pedestrians – crossing only at crosswalks – would be a major first step at improving the walkable quality of life in this city without the need to develop new infrastructure.  It's within Jo'burg's grasp to become a walkable city that respects and protects the shared space of both drivers and pedestrians and creates a safe environment for us all.

My my Metrobus!

I’ve been meaning to write an introductory post about the Metrobus, and after a recent great adventure, I think the time is right.  I started taking the bus to work 2 years ago – route #1, which goes from Parkhurst to Gandhi Square via Oxford Road.  In recent weeks, I’ve been exploring some of the many, many other routes.  The Metrobus is often ignored or even vilified – usually by people who have never ridden it.  A friend told me, “the bus is for old people,” and I laughed – it’s pretty true that the bus is popular among the gogos – but I said in that case I fit right in.

The bus is actually incredibly useful, and when it works well, it’s marvelously quick and efficient.  The breadth of areas served is seriously impressive, and that doesn’t include the areas further afield covered by long-range commuter buses.  Some of the downsides are the useless website, waiting times that can vary greatly and the service disruption caused by frequent strikes.  The website puts on a polished game face, but offers scant useful information – particularly to the visitor or newbie rider.  Knowing the Metrobus's organizational vision and mission doesn't help you take the bus!  Worse still, there are no maps (?!?), but instead a timetable of routes that assumes the reader has significant knowledge of Jo’burg neighborhoods.  Fortunately, there is an easy way around this oversight: the Metrobus call center is wonderfully helpful.  When I’m trying out a new route, I simply phone them, tell them I want to get from point A to point B, and they tell me the bus options, times and prices.  Their number (011 375-5555) is the general City of Jo’burg phone number, and Metrobus is option 6.  The cost for a ride is usually under R10 each way, and cash is accepted on board.  For frequent riders, multi-journey bus passes offering cost savings are available for purchase from Computicket outlets in most local malls.

That’s just what I did recently when I wanted to investigate a bus option to take me to a possible new job site waaaay up in Fourways.  The call center recommended bus #80F (Gandhi Square to Fourways, via Jan Smuts).  I could have caught the bus mid-route on Jan Smuts, but I was curious to see Metrobus’s hub at Gandhi Square.  So, I caught the #1 at Oxford and Riviera and headed into town.  The bus was full of chattering school kids from Parkhurst Primary – funny enough, I used to witness their shrieking descent from the bus at school every morning, and now I was joining them for their trip home.  They all disembarked at various stops in Hillbrow and the quiet bus carried on further into town.  It had been ages since I had been this deeply into Jo’burg’s CBD and it spurred memories of working in Durban’s CBD years ago.  Suddenly again I visualized the pavement as a boiling pot, spilling over with pedestrians and hawkers selling the most incongruous selection imaginable: nail polish, muti, plastic squirt bottles, all amidst the backdrop of colorful facades, handpainted signs and constant music.  It felt wonderfully familiar and personal; like finding a part of me that I didn’t know I’d missed.

Gandhi Square

At Gandhi Square, I paid my respects to the statue of the landmark’s namesake, but didn’t have to wait long for the 80F.  I asked for a ticket to the end of the line; the fare from end-to-end was R14.60.  I grabbed the prize upstairs seat of the double-decker bus and settled in for an unexpectedly illuminating tour of Jo’burg.  Even though I’d seen all the areas covered by the route, traveling in one go from the CBD, with its maximum density and non-stop waves of people and activity, to the stuffy upper suburbs, with their manicured corporate campuses and homogeneous strip malls, was a profound observation of extreme transformation.  Headed out of downtown, walls sprouted and grew ever higher.  The sprawl unspooled the further north we traveled.  Right before we stopped, I could see the Magaliesburg in the distance and pavement return to dirt as we reached the upper boundaries of the city.  Turning away from the rustic, we pulled into Fourways Mall, where I took the photo below (sigh) before hopping on another bus home.

Fourways Mall

Fourways Mall is a hub for many northern routes, so it wasn’t hard to find a bus for the return trip.  After a quick check with the driver, I hopped on the #552 (Fourways to Soweto, via William Nichol and Jan Smuts).  Filled with riders leaving work at 4:30 and headed home, the bus had a lively atmosphere.  At the back, 9 seats facing each other were occupied by men and women so engaged in spirited conversation that it seemed they were at a restaurant rather than on a city bus.  Even better, a guy selling bags of snacks continually walked the aisles, upstairs and down, banking on the after-work munchies of the passengers on a long ride home.  I hopped off at Zoo Lake and walked home – getting my modest exercise associated with taking the bus – fully pleased with the unexpectedly grand tour of Jo’burg that the Metrobus had delivered.

Piecing it together

Today I hit a new milestone that I knew was coming: I walked to Sandton.  It's not so much the distance that pleases me (7.5 km; 4.5 miles) -- it's that another part of town that used to feel out of reach is now within my grasp.  I think back to first living in Jo'burg 2 years ago and how lonely and isolated I felt for a while.  I remember wanting to go to the Jo'burg Art Fair one Saturday and phoning a taxi to find out how much it would cost to get from Parkhurst to Sandton: R120 ($16) each way.  I was pinching pennies at the time so I decided I couldn't afford it.  If only I had known what I do today: that I could walk or take the bus there easily, I would have felt so much more freedom in this city.  Of course, my confidence in hoofing it around Jo'burg has developed slowly over time, but there is nothing like feeling empowered to get out and do the things you want to do.  In my mind, I picture my time spent getting to know neighborhoods like connecting pieces of a giant puzzle: Killarney, Rosebank, Illovo, Sandton; then Saxonwold, Parkview, Parktown North, Parkhurst, Craighall Park and Blairgowrie to the west (and north); and Houghton, Norwood, Orange Grove and Melrose Arch to the east.  As the puzzle grows larger and more complete, I feel vindicated for all the people who discouraged me by saying, "You can't get to ____ without a car" and happy that I finally stopped listening to all the nay-sayers and just stepped outside and tried it...piece by piece.

Big ups to the built environment

A fellow epidemiologist shared this recent article in the NY Times reporting research findings on public transportation's role in reducing obesity rates.  It appears that, in most cases, riding public transportation involves a modest amount of walking: "New Yorkers typically walk about a quarter of a mile to get to their initial subway stop, and then presumably do the same to get to their destinations once they step off the subway."  Now epidemiologists are beginning to quantify the health benefits associated with these short walks: one study found that light-rail riders in Charlotte, NC, walked an average of 1.2 miles (1.9 km) daily, which after 6 months resulted in an average BMI reduction of 1.18, which is no small potatoes.

South Africa experiences a somewhat paradoxical relationship with obesity: rates of overweight/obesity are rising quickly while food insecurity is still a significant concern.  The most recent (2002) SA Demographic and Health Survey (published by MRC) found that over 50% of women and nearly 30% of men were classified as overweight or obese, regardless of ethnicity.  Interestingly, urban women had higher rates of obesity than rural women, which suggests the impact of reduced physical activity.  Eventually a quick trip to the gym isn't enough to fight against a sedentary day spent in an office and car, as well as the ever-growing portion sizes of restaurant meals.  These optimistic results of the US-based studies demonstrate that public transportation isn't only better for the health of the city, but also for the health of the individual.

Street sign fail

Oh my.  Let's see the marks for this effort:

• Motivation to put up new street signs: A+
• Effort in getting the job done: A+
• Remembering to check that the street is actually called Eastwold Way before you put up a sign that says East Worldway: Fail

A looong diversion

This morning I was running around Zoo Lake and putzed out. After giving up on the run, I was walking home to Killarney when I realized how nice it felt to walk in my running shoes instead of the cute, colorful contraptions that I usually subject upon my feet.  Feeling suddenly game, I detoured and headed toward a new furniture store I wanted to check out...in Blairgowrie.

This walk took me along my usual path from Zoo Lake to Parktown North via Cardigan Weg, then up into Parktown North, which was quiet and sunny on a weekday morning. From there I turned onto 1st Avenue briefly and then left onto familiar old Hamilton Ave. in Craighall Park, then a brief nip onto unfriendly Jan Smuts, then a quick left onto Conrad Dr. After a quick look around the shop, I did it all in reverse! All in all, I walked for over 3 hours, covering about 18km (11 miles). No wonder my legs are tired!

The photo is of the absurdly delightful Moema's in Parktown North: one of my all-time favorite Jozi spots, and a necessary indulgence after a looong walk!

So here's the situation...

Johannesburg has great weather, flat streets and interesting places to see. However, the general sentiment is that you don't walk here unless you have to. Sometime over the past century, Jozi transformed from the city of gold to the city of walls and cars. Now, since so many people don't walk, to do so may make one feel uneasy or even be outright discouraged (by those who have never tried). My frustration is that as a white woman, I'm so unique in being à pied that I know I look unusual at best, conspicuous at worst. But I've largely gotten used to that fact and moved past it. When I first started walking in Jo'burg two years ago, I only felt comfortable pretending that I was walking for exercise, so I'd don running shoes (takkies) and hoodies even to go to the mall. Now I can't be bothered to minimize my fashion potential like that every day, so now I just go with whatever I'm already wearing.

There are places that I don't like walking. I'm not a Melville fan. I avoid Louis Botha Ave. I don't walk downtown. I always, always get turned around in Craighall Park! Other places become more comfortable over time. I laugh to remember that I was a little nervous walking around Houghton -- haughty Houghton! -- the first time. You have to find out what feels comfortable for you.

I follow a few personal rules of the pavement:

• Always follow your gut instinct about security and don't hesitate to turn right around if you feel uneasy
• Never carry anything with you that you'd be sad to lose
• Don't walk at night; for me, I like to get to where I'm going by dusk at the latest
  
• When checking out a new neighborhood, give yourself multiple days to get a feel for the place and to find your chosen routes
• Say hello to as many people as possible -- not only does it build a security net around you, it's just a nice thing to do
  

About Car-free Jo'burg

This little project has been percolating in my mind for a while now. Last night when a very cool American woman -- from NYC, no less! -- told me that she drives two blocks to the Killarney Mall, I knew I wanted to bring this project to life. I don't think of my walking experiences in Jo'burg as terribly exceptional until peers remind me that maybe they are.

This blog is dedicated to chronicling a car-free life in Johannesburg. It's certainly not dictating that we all throw away our car keys and pound the pavement. But I'm happy to show that another way exists, whether it's changing the way we get to work or feeling empowered to take a neighborhood stroll. I'm less interested in creating a soapbox or pulpit than a place to inspire, vent and swap stories. It just so happens that I don't have a car now, so I happily rely on my trusty feet, public transport, private taxis and lifts from generous friends to get around. It also helps that most of the areas that I (and most my friends) frequent in Jo'burg are actually within a 10km (6 mile) radius of my flat in Killarney, despite Jo'burg's (deserved) reputation as widely-sprawled. I may even end up getting a car when my employment situation changes, but my attitudes about getting around in Jo'burg without one won't.

Jo'burg just relished its role on the world stage during the World Cup and proved itself as a fantastic city to visit and live. What keeps it from being a truly world class city is its lack of pedestrian amenities, like safe crosswalks, consistent pavement and street-level shops and restaurants, as well as the lack of reliable public transportation. The Gautrain and BRT are welcome additions to the mix of public transport options, but there still is much room for improvement.

I hope to offer encouragement that you don't always have to rely on a car in Jo'burg. It doesn't help that when I did a Google search for "car-free Johannesburg," the first link that appeared was for a car sales company (sigh). Or that Jo'burg just ranked third-worst in the world (behind Beijing and Mexico City) for commuting. People sure do cling tightly to their cars, but other ways are possible.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I'm a born walker. In my high school yearbook in sleepy North Carolina, a friend even noted that I was a fast walker. Old friends will certainly confirm that I'm a better walker than driver. I've lived in NYC, London, New Orleans, and San Francisco and learned long ago the pleasure and practicality of walking miles and miles around those cities. Walking (or hopping on a bus or train) is how I learn about cities, take care of business, find new excitement, stay fit, pick myself up when I'm blue, or kill time when I'm bored. I love Jo'burg and I wouldn't be able to love it if I wasn't able to live here the way that I want to, which means free to be out and about.

I hope that people will join me on this little adventure and possibly share stories and experiences that may inspire others to hit the pavement and try out Jo'burg car-free.