Quantum Theory
Executive Member
Ever been on the London Underground during rush hour? I remember the Jubilee Line being so busy, the platform would be packed and when the train comes, no one could get on as the train was filled to the brim...
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Gautrain too successful?
- Thread starter supersunbird
- Start date
xera
Expert Member
How many people do you think are going to avoid the highway when/if they start the auto toll thingi?
With the price of fuel sky rocketing and the time it would take through robots/traffic on back roads even with tolling one passenger would still make the highway a better option.
Jola
Honorary Master
graciax452
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Too true - across most of Europe at peak times you just have to stand and deal with it... all trains get full and putting in seats means less people can get on
A friend got a very positive mail from them regarding this. If money is to be made they will be interested...
The Gautrain site claims that the Centurion station is one of the most well-serviced stations regarding buses. They're lying. They claim to service Lyttelton Manor but there's no bus that goes anywhere near there. The entire NE section of Centurion (Glover avenue and NE of that) is not serviced by buses. The "highest" that a bus goes is Jean Avenue, which is ridiculous. But, they have 2 buses running on basically the same route to service Highveld and Southdowns.
I love the Gautrain, but it takes 20min to walk to the station from my house, and the nearest bus stop to my work in Joburg is a 10min walk. That's already 30min in travel time alone. Then I need to actually travel on the bus for about 15 minutes from Sandton Station to the stop. Add to that the 30min travel time between Centurion Station and Sandton station, inc getting in and out the stations, and you have almost 1.5hrs in travelling time, just one way. (If I miss a train and have to wait for the next one, that can add about 10min.)
The fare is R36 for the train, plus R6 for the bus. That's R42 one-way. A round-trip would thus cost R84 and take up 3hrs of my day. By comparison, if I hop on my motorbike, it costs me R14.50 in petrol (at R10.50/L) and only takes 35min 1-way. A round trip is thus R29 and 1hr10min. Once the tolls come into effect I'll only be going through 1 gantry at about R3 (not sure exactly).
Until the Gautrain network is expanded, the bus network is expanded, and the operating hours and frequencies are increased it will continue to be cheaper, faster, and more independent for me to drive myself to work.
I love the Gautrain, but it takes 20min to walk to the station from my house, and the nearest bus stop to my work in Joburg is a 10min walk. That's already 30min in travel time alone. Then I need to actually travel on the bus for about 15 minutes from Sandton Station to the stop. Add to that the 30min travel time between Centurion Station and Sandton station, inc getting in and out the stations, and you have almost 1.5hrs in travelling time, just one way. (If I miss a train and have to wait for the next one, that can add about 10min.)
The fare is R36 for the train, plus R6 for the bus. That's R42 one-way. A round-trip would thus cost R84 and take up 3hrs of my day. By comparison, if I hop on my motorbike, it costs me R14.50 in petrol (at R10.50/L) and only takes 35min 1-way. A round trip is thus R29 and 1hr10min. Once the tolls come into effect I'll only be going through 1 gantry at about R3 (not sure exactly).
Until the Gautrain network is expanded, the bus network is expanded, and the operating hours and frequencies are increased it will continue to be cheaper, faster, and more independent for me to drive myself to work.
Peder
Hobbit
I've never taken or seen the Gautrain and I live in Jean Avenue
When I'm driving home in the evenings though I always see lots of cars at the Centurion station.
you obviously live under a rock, i also live in jean avenue and the gautrain rides right past my house, it was loads of fun to see my house from the gautrain
Ditto. If the e-tolling starts and stuffs up the back roads I may reconsider but currently the Gautrain costs R400 more than using my car (even after taking wear and tear into account) and it's 25 minutes by car vs 50 to 60 minutes using the train.
The bus feeder system is a real let down - I don't want to have to drive 15km to get to the station.
I want to walk down my street to the Gautrain bus stop and leave my vehicle in the garage.
Bona Botse
A little insight goes a long way
Yes but can you reply to emails/read a newspaper or novel/take a nap while riding your bike?
Yes but can you reply to emails/read a newspaper or novel/take a nap while riding your bike?
Nope, but I can ZOOMZOOM! It's fun
Riding on my motorbike is the highlight of my day. I love it.Also, I'd be too paranoid to take a nap on the train. And I spend the rest of the day behind a computer, so it's nice to get away from all the tech for a while and breathe me in some delicious exhaust fumes..
supersunbird
Honorary Master
Took the car the past two days, 60% less travel time now that the highway lanes are open again and very little fuel used since the traffic is flowing nicely, So working out cheaper than the train again even with the petrol price increase.
Nicodeamus
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1 train only serves about 7000 people per day, one highway does that in an hour. They could have used the money to build 2 new highways. It is nice and all, I took a few trips to joburg, but once I realized I need to walk towards my destination then it isn't so great. I stay in the eastern side of Pretoria so it is quite a walk to hatfield. It just isn't worth it, I only see it working for students going from centurion to hatfield
How many trains are there? Look at the car next to you, how many people are there in it? Most cars only have the driver, so that's -7000 cars extra on our roads by removing one train. When do we stop adding lanes? When to we stop taxing people for the additional lanes? Where do we keep these cars in the CBDs? How do they get from the highways to the already congested suburbs? Fuel is going up, when will it stop? When do we start making an attempt to stop killing the planet?
The Gautrain is great, there is a decrease in traffic on the roads for those that have to use it, it offers a viable solution to those that are just about making it and won't survive the tolls. It may not work for everyone but speaking to people that are using it they're loving it. I'd would have rather seen all the money that was wasted on the highways which are now going to be tolled put into better safer public transport.
Nicodeamus
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Yeah the gautrain excavation prosess vs bitumen that is a by-product of fuel
So much for being 'greener'. Here is the reality, in order to replace 1 highway you need 24 trains with the same amount of money they used to build the gautrain they could have built 2 extra highways and yes there were space to do so. All they did now was shift the bottleneck from the N1 to Hatfield. Furthermore the N1 is now going to be taxed to death because they want people to use the gautrain, the gautrain still isn't an alternative it is a nice toy, but it remains just about that. If there was no gautrain and proper management of or road system then the toll system wouldn't be needed.I hope you're aware that trains also use electricity which is generated in South Africa by coal, since our 'greenies' are against the more cleaner nuclear power. The gautrain also got into existence by order of government! In order to sustain the project government had to legalize theft.
Yeah the gautrain excavation prosess vs bitumen that is a by-product of fuel
I hope you're aware that trains also use electricity which is generated in South Africa by coal, since our 'greenies' are against the more cleaner nuclear power. The gautrain also got into existence by order of government! In order to sustain the project government had to legalize theft.
And the excavation process is completed, done and dusted. Tolling has nothing to do with the Gautrain and everything to do with government wanting you hard earned Rands. Check again, thread title "Gautrain too successful?" so to me it's a great alternate. You honestly believe that our government can manage anything successfully as long as they have access to tax payers money?
I'll rather bet on greener power generation than greener fuel, I'd prefer if the world doesn't go hungry while we use all the food to make fuel or I guess we could all just charge our cars on the grid? One could also say in order to sustain the highway upgrades government had to legalize theft of your hard earned cash.
Space in the CBDs? Obesity? Stress? Space on roads from highways to destinations? Already failing supporting road infrastructure around highways? Increase in price of cars? Drunk driving? Greener in the long run? When do we stop adding lanes?... I see many reasons for public transport and one not to "quite a walk to hatfield"