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?