It’s all systems go for the EcoMobility World Festival
02 October 2015
The moment that has in recent weeks sparked all manner of debate has finally arrived.
The EcoMobility World Festival – which will result in several streets of Sandton being closed off to private vehicles to promote the use of non-motorised transport as well as public transport throughout October – officially took off on Thursday October 1 when Johannesburg Executive Mayor Parks Tau challenged citizens to change the way they moved.
Mayor Tau has taken the lead by temporarily moving his offices to Sandton, from which he will work until the end of the festival, which coincides with South Africa’s Transport Month.
“I want to challenge Joburgers to follow my lead and make similar commitments.” He invited residents to engage with the City on its twitter handle: @CityofJoburgZA using the hashtag #followtheMayor to follow his journey to an ecomobile Sandton."
Speaking at the Industrial Development Corporation Conference Centre in Sandton, Mayor Tau admitted that there would be some discomfort in the Sandton CBD as a result of the road closures.
“This is an inevitable price we all have to pay to usher in a new and sustainable era of alternative modes of transport to reduce congestion, carbon emissions and the overall negative economic impact these have on our city,” he said.
The Mayor said as the City’s economic hub and Africa’s richest square mile, Sandton was under threat of becoming a giant parking lot and subsequently collapsing the economic wellbeing of the City.
Mayor Tau then called on all residents to act to safeguard not only “our environment, but our economic health too”.
“The health of our economy significantly contributes to the creation of a safe, resilient and sustainable city that is envisioned by Joburg’s Growth and Development Strategy 2040 (GDS 2040),” he said.
He added, however, that chances of this vision being realised were increasingly being compromised as the number of cars in Sandton continued to climb at 3.4% a year.
“Unfortunately, there is no more road capacity to accommodate further growth at this rate,” he said.
On a daily basis, between 7.30am and 08.30am, almost 150 000 people move in and out of Sandton. Private vehicles constitute about 63% of the traffic, taxis 20%, Gautrain 7% and buses 6%.Cyclists occupancy is currently zero, while heavy vehicles account for 1% and pedestrians 3%.
“This is while the city is struggling to meet the annual 20% reduction target in its carbon footprint. The last results, based on 2014 data and recently certified by the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories and C40, show we have only managed to decrease our total emissions by -0.7%,” the Mayor said.
He said the highest increase in emissions stood at 27% from the transport sector – the majority of which was caused by road transport.
“This is alarming and should be a cause for concern for all who live in Johannesburg, who have begun to experience the effects of climate change on our weather conditions and infrastructure," he said.
Konrad Otto Zimmerman, the director of the Ecomobility World Festival, commended Johannesburg for being the second city to hold the festival after Suwon in South Korea in 2013. Zimmerman said the Festival would be documented into a book and film.
He said the festival was a precursor to the COP21 conference in December in Paris, where Mayor Tau will deliver the keynote address.
Adriaan Enthoven of Yellowood and chairman of Hollard said he was optimistic the festival would be a huge success and a good legacy for generations to come. After the media briefing, the Mayor, joined by internationally renowned actor Danny Glover, posed for photographs while standing on the electric scooters.