Fix+transport+woes,+Cronin,+Star

The Star, Johannesburg, June 28, 2006 //Edition 1//
=Let's not wait until 2010 to fix transport woes - Cronin=


 * //'I think there is a crisis for millions of people'//**


 * John Yeld**

Transport issues need to be tackled from the point of view of ordinary South Africans who are condemned to "awful public transport, every single day, and not just for a few weeks in 2010".

This is according to Jeremy Cronin, chairperson of parliament's transport portfolio committee, speaking yesterday to the Cape Town Press Club.

Cronin, an ANC MP and also deputy chairperson of the SA Communist Party, said he was excited by the possibilities offered by hosting the 2010 event.

"And I certainly hope we will use the spur of 2010 to think profoundly about the things we have to do in any case. That would be my entry point."

Cronin said transport had been "neglected terribly" since 1994.

There was a "tangle" of institutional and funding arrangements around public transport, and early ANC government policies that had promoted privatisation had been "disastrous", Cronin suggested.

"I think there is a crisis - let me call it what it is. There are very substantial crises around transport, mobility and accessibility for South Africans."

Some evidence of these crises included the 14 000 road fatalities last year - or 17 000, if the Medical Research Council's figures were accepted.

Cronin compared the road fatality statistics to a war zone.

He had heard recently that 50 000 Iraqis had died since 2003 in the conflict in that country.

"So the number of road fatalities in our country since 2003 is pretty much the same - it is the equivalent of a war zone."

About 40% of road deaths in-volved pedestrians, Cronin added.

"It (road deaths) is the major cause of unnatural death in children under the age of 15."

Road accidents were costing South Africa about R42-billion a year. "That's the equivalent of two Gautrains every year."

There were some legitimate complaints from road users about traffic congestion and potholes, Cronin conceded.

"But the much more serious problems are those confronting the majority of South Africans, because there is no public transport for them whatsoever.

"Let's look at 2010 and use it, but let's not become bedazzled by 2010.

"Let's worry about what millions of people experience every single day."


 * From: http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3313077**

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