‘One size won’t fit all’: MPs concerned about infrastructure amidst public transport budget cuts
· Citizen
The portfolio committee on Transport met virtually with members of the Department of Transport and National Treasury to discuss the reasons for the discontinuation of the Public Transport Network Grant (PTNG).
On Tuesday, MPs raised concerns about the impact of grant cuts on commuters who rely on the bus system to reach their destinations.
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According to the Minister of Transport, Barbra Creecy, the grant will slowly phase out in the next three years, as it has not been yielding an income for almost 20 years.
Underperforming Grants
The Minister of Transport explained that the PTNG was established several years ago to provide public transport in cities, including the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system.
“This grant was primarily focused on infrastructure and secondarily on operations.
“But unfortunately, it has, for a very long period of time, been an underperforming grant in the sense that it has not achieved the objectives for which it was established.
“And after more than 15 years, we find that there are really only two partially successful operations,”
Creecy noted that the My Citi buses in the Western Cape and the Rea Vaya bus system in Joburg carry around 147 000 passengers daily, compared to the taxi industry which moves around 8 million.
Creecy added that the three-year wind-down period allows the department to complete existing (contractual) commitments while attempting to potentially repurpose funds in order to make public transport more affordable for commuters.
“We do want to make sure that as we wind down the existing public transport network grant, we do not disadvantage routes that are functioning and existing contractual obligations.
“We are winding down a grant that has existed for some time, that is not benefitting commuters, and we are trying to look at other alternatives that would be more beneficial to commuters. But we are not there yet from a policy point of view.”
Infrastructure Concerns
MP Ntombovuyo Nkopane asked what measures would be put in place to ensure the safety of daily commuters who will be left stranded after the grant and bus services become less of an expense to the department.
“How will you prevent stranded infrastructure – for example, the BRT Station, the depots, and dedicated lanes – from becoming fruitless and wasteful expenditure, during the wind-down?”
Meanwhile, MP Makashule Gana noted capacity and performance challenges and asked what is being done to address infrastructure-related issues.
“If this grant is cut, and moving away from being focused on infrastructure to increasing operations along the transport system, it might actually impact incomplete infrastructure projects,”
‘One size won’t fit all’
In response to the set of questions asked, Creecy stated that this is an extremely difficult situation for any public representative to face.
“It can’t be acceptable for a publicly funded grant by taxpayers to underperform for almost 20 years. It’s not acceptable,” she said
She explained that the repurposing of the grant is intended to allocate the necessary funds to areas that will multiply, rather than just bleeding the department dry.
“I suppose the issue that has confronted me in my position is, do I continue to do the same things and get the same results? Or do I try to change the situation?”
Creecy noted that this is her attempt to change the situation while keeping commuters at the centre of it all because, “it is not easy to unscramble an egg.”
Flexibility
“What I think we have to confront is that one size won’t fit all,” said Barbara Creecy
She further explained that weaknesses exist within the Integrated Transport National Plans (IPTN) and stated that it also needs to be at the centre of reconceptualising the grant in an economically affordable way.
“We have to have flexibility for different situations.”
Reasons for grant cuts
The Department of Transport’s Khibi Manana presented a slideshow that referred to the following reasons for the grants’ discontinuation:
- Most IPTNs are underperforming and have shown a poor return on investment
- Persistent structural challenges have driven poor outcomes and led to the grant being discontinued
- Local municipalities lack the capacity to plan, manage and implement public transport systems, leading to the misuse of funds
- Fare revenue is often overestimated due to over optimistic passenger demand expectations and ongoing route competition despite compensation
- Misalignment between expenditure and outcomes, amongst many other reasons
Creating a new grant
Manana said that a new fund will be developed in alignment with workshops that will take place alongside discussions with the National Treasury and the budget cuts announced by the Minister of Finance during the budget speech.
“We have another workshop with treasury from the 8th to the 9th, also talking about the wind-down process and the new fund that will be developed.”
She also emphasised that the department will engage with local municipalities throughout the year to create an integrated multi-modal public transport network.
“Lastly, we plan to engage with local municipalities in June, and our engagements will continue throughout the year because we recognise that this is a path that has not been walked before.”
Integrated systems
Creecy emphasised that the department does not wish to ‘fix what is not broken’ but rather incorporate buses in areas where integrated systems are not operating as they should.
“So, if in certain areas we find that systems are working, there’s no reason not to incorporate those systems”
“But where those systems are not working, and there is a proven track record that they are not working. Then I think we would need to be prepared to move away from those systems.”
Creecy concluded that the process for the wind-down is still underway and broad, as she intends to meet with the South African Local Government Association (Salga) in the coming weeks to provide updates on the transition from the grant that is set to be implemented over the next three years.