ATTITUDES TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT REFORM IN SOUTH AFRICA: RESULTS OF IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS WITH PARATRANSIT OPERATORS

In 2006 the South African government launched a public transport reform programme promoting the introduction of bus rapid transit-type services in a number of cities around the country. Besides large-scale infrastructural investments, a key aim of the programme has been to bring about consolidation and formalisation in the highly fragmented paratransit sector that dominates the urban public transport market nationally. Paratransit operators affected by proposed BRT routes can opt to be incorporated by forming new companies and negotiating long-term operating contracts, but must withdraw their existing paratransit services from those routes. Supported by the national reform programme the first BRT services in Cape Town were inaugurated in May 2011. Infrastructure planning and construction proceeded relatively smoothly, but at the level of operator engagement there are significant uncertainties and the first series of negotiations remains unresolved despite having been initiated in 2008. This paper reports on the findings of semi-structured, qualitative interviews with paratransit owners and operator associations in Cape Town. The study captured respondents’ views on: the existing paratransit regulatory system; the operator engagement process around the BRT system and its proposed competition and ownership model; and their own needs and expectations around ownership, competition and government intervention. Paratransit operators are a non-uniform and hard-to-access respondent group and the research also illustrates some prospects and limitations of conducting interviews as a method of engaging this significant stakeholder group. Both the policy and methodological aspects of this research may be pertinent to developing world countries and cities engaged in or planning similar public transport reform programmes where paratransit operations are present.