Mayor unveils new move to arrest traffic congestion

16 March 2017

 

Congestion on Johannesburg’s roads is expected to be significantly reduced, particularly during signal downtime, after Executive Mayor Cllr Herman Mashaba on Wednesday, March 15, unveiled a R200-million innovative traffic intervention.

 

Through the “no-joints” policy intervention - which incorporates a Smart Traffic Signal System and a Traffic Operations Centre ((TOC) - JRA technicians will no longer be required to join old cables when an electrical fault has been reported. Instead, they will replace the damaged cables with new ones.

JRA officials have welcomed the move, saying it will definitely result in traffic congestion in the city being drastically cut down.

Cllr Mashaba said the City’s ultimate goal was to roll out the “no-joint” policy on a citywide scale, starting from the beginning of the 2017-2018 financial year in July.

“By doing this we will make Joburg’s traffic network more resilient to the impact of wet weather conditions, lightning and electrical surges, which contribute to signal downtime. The importance of improving our city’s traffic network cannot be over-emphasised.

“Johannesburg’s 2 135 signallised traffic intersections are vital to the City achieving 5% economic growth, providing much-needed opportunities to our residents,” Cllr Mashaba said.

The Smart Traffic Signal System will be used to monitor traffic signals and ensure that faults are detected and speedily repaired, whereas the 24-hour TOC will ensure that traffic lights are monitored continuously and technicians sent out to repair them once a fault has been reported.

Darryl Thomas, JRA’s Head of Mobility Freight, said the main focus was reducing downtime. He said as a result of the moves, JRA would employ an additional number of technicians.

“We recognise the need to improve. Traffic signals not working causes congestion. We are now responding quicker with these interventions. Our main focus is reducing downtime. This is when a traffic light is down after a fault has been reported,” said Thomas.

The Mayor said in the coming weeks, 640 Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers would be deployed to assist JRA technicians in their work.

Mayor Mashaba and Member of the Mayoral Committee for Transport Cllr Nonhlanhla Makhuba were later taken to downed traffic lights in Newtown, where JRA technicians carried out a demonstration on how the “no-joint” policy would work.