Causes of the problems in the road transport situation are not confined to the road network and, indeed, it has to be recognized that rather than a shortage of road facilities a more basic problem exists in the urban structure of the Cape Metropolitan Region, where commuter distances between residential areas and workplaces have become so great.
In these circumstances, in addition to an increased vehicular traffic volume and higher costs resulting from congestion, commuter costs in the metropolitan region have jumped dramatically. Whereas it is estimated that the average commuter cost in the 1980s was around 10 rand per kilometer, this has increased by 50% to approximately 15 rand per kilometer in the 1990s.
In tackling these problems, the conventional method of strengthening road development leaves many question marks as to effect. Put another way, the above-mentioned road transport inefficiency is mainly the result of a gap between demand and supply in the morning rush hour, and road capacity on the whole is generally sufficient to cope with demand. The root of the problem lies in an over-reliance on car transport during the morning peak, and increasing road capacity to satisfy this demand results in much futility. It is necessary to fully realize that increasing road capacity has its limits and adopt a much broader viewpoint in examining alternative solutions.
(2)Public Transport
1) Railway
Railways account for a relatively large share of commuter transport in the Cape Metropolitan Region, and transportation volumes on main lines are equal to those on the road network. Unlike bus transport, the overall rail transportation volume has remained fairly steady over the years (approximately 147 million passengers per year).
A major change in the rail transport picture in recent years has been a marked decrease in first class passengers and an increase in third class passengers. The increase of the suburban population in the Cape Metropolitan Region is the obvious reason for the increase in third class passengers, however, regarding the fall in first class passengers, a shift to car and taxi transport can be considered but various factors seem to be at work.
A number of factors can be raised to explain the fall in rail utilization, however, a simple decline in the appeal of railway transport is pointed out. In terms of convenience, despite the fact that road traveling speeds have fallen as a result of the
