Browsing by Author "Vilakazi, Ayanda Menzi."

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The effectiveness of land public passenger transport in the Johannesburg metropolitan area : a particular emphasis to bus passenger pubic transport customer service delivery excellence perspective.
(2003) Vilakazi, Ayanda Menzi.; Thomson, Elza.
The South African Public Transport System plays an important role in the development of the economy in the country and in the region as a whole. Without an effective and efficient public transport system, the country's economic status would not improve. Classical macroeconomic theory suggests that transport is one of several key preconditions for economic growth. Transport is an industry in itself and employs many people. The Government has developed policies to regulate passenger transport in South Africa and in particular Johannesburg. There are national and provincial regulations that have been enacted by the national and provincial government. These are National Land Transport Transition Act, Gauteng Transport Infrastructure Act, Gauteng Public Passenger Transport Act and Moving South Africa Strategy. It was recognised in MSA that Metropolitan transport is clearly one of areas where crisis is looming. It is more and more difficult to move. Buses have lost clients to taxis. There seems to be consensus that the car is the only right choice for most citizens. The problem highlighted was that the public transport model is not working. Present urban transport strategy is based on short-term optimisation and it ignores the long-term effect of a poor urban transport-land mix. The secondary research seems to suggest that South African passenger bus transport in ineffective and inefficient. The research problem was subsequently stated to show that public transport in Johannesburg in ineffective because bus passenger transport model leads to dissatisfied passengers. Furthermore, the model is ineffective because of the past inequalities that led to poor transport infrastructure. This was found not to be true through primary research. The results showed that passengers were satisfied with the bus passenger transport in the Metropolitan areas of Johannesburg. Furthermore, it was found that indeed the poor infrastructure due to past inequalities has affected passenger transport service delivery. Overall, the passengers were satisfied with the bus transport model applied irrespective of where these passengers lived. It was then concluded that the bus passenger transport is effective. Operators have to be cautious of the fact that it is crucial to adopt a customer-focussed service approach as this will lead to satisfied passengers. The MSA strategy of the department of transport is heading in the right direction. It identifies the need for putting customers first. The strategy proposed a future core transport system that is high volume, high frequency corridors in which public transport will be a priority. Customer's need for improved access and short trip times will be met by having regular feeder services to the high volume corridors, user-friendly transfer facilities, short wait times due to high corridor frequencies and the possibility of differentiated services for customers with specific needs. The passengers transport strategy is moving from commuter-based modal transport to customer-based public transport there will be densification of transport corridors, optimal deployment of modes to meet customer service requirements and improving operators' level performance.
Evaluating service quality in the South African public road transportation industry : a case study of Johannesburg.
(2013) Vilakazi, Ayanda Menzi.; Govender, Krishna Kistan.
The study of public road transport in Johannesburg is important because public transport provides the benefits of personal mobility and access to economic prosperity to a large number of people who rely, and are, dependent on public transport for their mobility needs. However, for decades, the public transport in South Africa has been characterized by many economic and social problems that can no longer be overlooked; exacerbated by the poor quality of service and the lack of modal integration. These problems require sustainable long term solutions, and if left unattended, could seriously impact a range of communities in the city. This study is of particular importance as it is envisaged that it will contribute towards improving the quality of public road transport service in Johannesburg, thus attracting new users and retain existing ones. The aim of the study was to evaluate passengers’ perceptions of the quality of service offered by the bus and minibus taxi industries utilising reliability, extent of service, comfort, safety, and affordability as important service quality dimensions. A sample of 902 respondents participated in the study. The respondents were drawn predominantly from Johannesburg because the study focus was on the Johannesburg Public Road Transportation System. The survey was administered personally by the researcher to individual passengers, intercepted at bus and minibus-taxi terminals in Johannesburg. As a result of the complexities involved in the process of sampling in the public transport context, an area sampling technique was used to select terminals, thereby automatically selecting the passengers to be included in the study. Various statistical tools were used for data analysis. The data was analysed utilising Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Statistical Analysis System (SAS). The study findings showed that the perceived quality of bus transport service exceeded that of minibus taxis by a significant margin. Those who used buses more often tended to have a higher opinion of the quality of bus transport. Those who used minibus taxis as their primary mode of transport did not do so because they had a high opinion of the quality of the minibus taxi experience. The service quality dimensions of reliability, extent of service, comfort, safety, and affordability, were perceived as being positively correlated and important to passengers’ perceptions of service; thus increasing future utilization of the service. Gender and occupation were not significant in influencing the overall service quality provided by the bus. Gender and income were not significant in influencing the overall service quality provided by the minibus taxis. The study findings met the objectives of the study. Consequently, professionals and academics stand to benefit from the study findings. The focus should be on the aforementioned service quality dimensions in order to improve passengers’ perceptions of public road transport service, and thus, address the public transport conundrum.