South African Transportation

In a program that is so discussion based our class sessions often consist of both small and large group discussions. We discuss observations we’ve made from the places and sites we’ve visited, and how those experiences prove or disprove our expectations and assumptions about city life in South Africa. These class discussions often occur on the bus while driving to different locations, or in a more formal room at our hotel. On several occasions we have also attended presentations at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Being able to see and experience the concepts that we learn in class is very beneficial to our understanding of the “Right to the City” and how urban life comes to be.
A large contribution to the success of urban life is a city’s public transport system. Though Johannesburg and Cape Town have very different systems of transport, they are just as important in both cities. In Johannesburg that main source of transport other than owning a car is to use a taxi. While there is a great uber presence, taxis are often more affordable and easier to access by those without internet or a smartphone. However, through our dependency on these means of transport we also learned more about the competition between driving services. Uber and taxis often compete for clientele, however it was interesting to experience this market in a city unfamiliar to me. However, a problem that we often saw was the placement of taxi services. In some communities they were not located near the people that needed them most, which makes many people unable to obtain employment in the city. However, while Cape Town also has taxis and Ubers, it seems that their bus system is a more convenient means of traveling. It allows access to city life, the coast, as well as the mountains that are located in the area. It allows both residents and tourists to easily get place to place, and thankfully my experience on the MBTA has made their rails easier to navigate.