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.