Taking the 'R' out of IRPTN's

2014/07/08(c) TransForum Business Development 1

TAKING THE ‘R’ OUT OF IRPTNs

Paul Browning

SA TRANSPORT CONFERENCE, 7 JULY 2016

2012/06/23 (c) TransForum Business Development 2


Department of Transport 24 January 2014 :

“The strategic thrust endorsed in the Public Transport Strategy (March 2007) rests on two pillars, namely:• modal upgrading, and • integrated public transport networks.

“The first pillar refers to the introduction of urgent significant improvements in current public transport services; whereas the second pillar is more a long term implementation of high quality integrated public transport networks.”


The Priority – the Minibus-Taxi

The taxi mode carries 60% or more of daily public transport passengers.

It will for many years continue to be the mainstay of public transport in both urban and rural areas.

The current standards of operation fall far below what can be expected.

‘First pillar’ upgrading of the taxi mode is needed.

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The Catalyst – The Operating Licence System

The Operating Licence system can be used to facilitate greater order in the taxi industry.

Government must :• administer the OL system fairly and

efficiently• firmly enforce it• ensure that taxi operators fully comply

with all the conditions of their OL (‘the stick’); and

• assist local associations to implement operational management of taxi services (‘the carrot’).

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Enforcement : The Stick and the Carrot

Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters, 10 October 2015 :

“The Minister……calls on the Provincial Governments to tighten the licensing regime by :

• punishing transgressors (the stick), and • rewarding good behaviour on the part of

compliant operators and drivers (the carrot).“

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National Land Transport Act 2009 : Sec 90 (3)

‘When an employee of the holder of an Operating Licence commits an offence, the holder of the Operating Licence is equally liable unless he or she can show that s/he took all reasonable measures to prevent the offence.’

It is not enough for the owner of the vehicle to say that the driver was out of sight. The owner (the holder of the OL) must institute suitable management systems.

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National Land Transport Act 2009 : Sec 62 (1) (c)

‘An operating licence may only be issued if the applicant has signed a statement to the effect that he or she will comply with labour laws in respect of drivers and other staff, as well as the Sectoral Determination of the Department of Labour.’

The Sectoral Determination stipulates :• written particulars of employment• payslips showing PAYE and UIF• maximum hours of work/compulsory rest

periods• paid leave – annual, sick, family, etc

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Public Transport Priority Measures

Taxi drivers are penalised for not obeying the rules of the road.

The Public Transport Strategy aims to encourage public transport over the private car. Each taxi carries between 15 and 22 passengers. Yet no provision is made to give the taxi priority over private cars, which usually carry just one person.

There must be a concerted effort to implement a wide range of public transport priority measures on all major taxi routes.


Assessment

An upgrading of the taxi mode cannot be achieved where there are tens of thousands of individual owners each operating one or two vehicles, and where there is no operational management or supervision. The vehicles can continue to be owned by individuals, but for operations purposes they must be ceded to an operating organisation with professional management.

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The Operations Management Unit (1)

It is impossible for the owner of just one or two taxis to comply fully with all the conditions of an Operating Licence as laid down in the NLTA 2009.

Each local association must be assisted set up an Operations Management Unit (OMU).

Members of the association will continue to own their vehicles and retain their Operating Licences, but they will ‘cede’ management of the vehicles and drivers to the OMU.

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The OMU will act on behalf of individual owners to enable them to comply with the conditions of their Operating Licence.

It will provide specialist management of :

• 0perations• maintenance• driver recruitment, training and

management (HR)• security of fares income by way of a

ticketing system.

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Taxi operators will continue to own their individual vehicles. They will be able to feel that, if the promised benefits and guarantees do not materialise, they have the option of withdrawing.

If this 'fall-back' option is available to taxi operators, then they are likely to be willing to take the first step (of ceding management to the OMU); and, if the promises are kept, they will be willing to move on to further steps.

However, if they do not participate in the OMU, they must know that they are then ‘on their own’.

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Meeting the Costs

There will be extra costs of compliance, as well as the costs of the OMU.

• Start-up costs of the OMU must be met by government as part of their contribution to bringing greater order to taxi operations (Minister Peters : “rewarding compliant operators”)

• Ongoing costs of both the OMU and full legal compliance can be met by securing fares income through a ticketing system.


THANK YOUNo animals were hurt during the preparation of this presentation


DISCUSSION

Automotive

Taking the 'R' out of IRPTN's