Bus lanes, traffic jams and disproportionate, malicious prosecution – this is the N2 commute



South Africa has some of the most horrific road death statistics of any country in the world. Regular readers of C&C will be well aware of my opinions regarding the traffic department’s role in generating those numbers (you can read about it HERE). Recently I have started commuting daily between Cape Town and Somerset West along the N2. A stretch of road known for being congested and dangerous.

The connection between our road death statistics, my commute and the traffic department’s prioritisation of revenue generation over road safety? The bus lane.

South Africa does things a little differently

Bus lanes are nothing new. They are used all over the world to allow busses and taxis to move through traffic during times of heavy congestion. However, as is always the case, South Africa does things a little differently. Our taxis drive like hooligans. And once a driver’s written off too many minibus taxis for taxi owners to employ them, they seem to get employed by Golden Arrow to drive busses!

bus
The dark red traffic line on the N2 happens to coincide exactly with the stretch of highway cursed with the bus lane. Coincidence?

The result being that as you move along the N2, at every junction there is a traffic jam as busses and taxis shove their way through 2 lanes of traffic to get to the bus lane. Then at the other side of the junction, those same busses and taxis again shove their way over to the left to get into the on-ramp. Where traffic is moving more quickly. At the end of the on-ramp they then shove their way through 2 lanes of traffic again to get back to the bus lane.

At the end of the day, the bus lane CAUSES more congestion than it alleviates. Not to mention the fact that of the last 3 accidents I have seen on the N2 during my commute, NONE have been outside the bus lane. And they usually involve 2 taxis trying to squeeze past each other in the same lane.

as the bus lane ends, you can see traffic moving more smoothly again

Put another way; my commute is roughly 45km each way. The 25km from home up to the start of the bus lane is usually dispatched without any major drama in around 15 minutes. Giving me an average speed down the highway of 100kph. The bus lane itself runs for a little over 10km. From just after the M22, up to just after the M5 bridge. That 10km stretch usually takes a little over an hour to get through, giving me an average speed of around 8kph. As soon as the bus lane ends, you can see traffic moving more smoothly again. The final 10km or so of my journey takes a further 10-15 minutes giving me an average of around 40kph. Which is perfectly understandable as you approach and enter the city centre.

bus
2 lanes of crawling traffic with the bus lane the only one moving. Notice the taxi aggressively trying to overtake a car in the bus lane.

So given that the bus lane is clearly such a huge cause of frustration, an invitation for more dangerous driving from our taxi wielding gangsters and generally seems to serve no purpose; why is it still there? Well, enter the second biggest cause of congestion on the N2 – Traffic officials.

Yes you read that right. Traffic cops CAUSE massive congestion on the N2, especially during morning peak hour. They set up mini-roadblocks to pull over cars driving in the bus lane before the 9am opening time. In order to do so, they have to stop 2 lanes of traffic on the highway. Then direct the offending car to the side of the road. And then re-open traffic in the 2 main lanes of the highway. This in itself causes chaos. But as we all know, put 2 flashing blue lights at the side of the road, and people will slow down instinctively to see what’s happening. Further slowing down the flow of traffic.

no less than 8 traffic police cars

I have actually taken note that on days when there are fewer of these mini-roadblocks on the N2, my commute can be as much as 20 minutes shorter! Not to mention the fact that for a department that is always complaining about their lack of resources they seem to have plenty of manpower and cars available for this task on a daily basis. On one particularly badly congested morning, I counted no less than 8 traffic police cars at the Jakes Gerwel Drive offramp. And that’s just ONE junction – they had more cars stationed at almost every single junction.

Hilarious if you consider that they also have a string of cameras on gantries above the road. Specifically there to catch normal cars driving in the bus lane. In the latest figures I could find (almost 8 years old), the City of Capetown issues a little over 18 000 fines per month to people driving in the bus lane. 18 000 fines for a ‘crime’ that has no real victims. For a ‘crime’ that shouldn’t be illegal in the first place. The department deploys massive resources to catch these dangerous criminals, who are simply trying to get to work on time, so that they can issue their 18 000 fines every month at R250 a pop.

bus
This is what peak-hour traffic on the N2 looks like BEFORE the start of the bus lane.

are those lives really worth your R4.5mil in revenue

One does have to ask how many lives could have been saved if these resources had been deployed to prevent unlicensed drivers from getting on our roads? How many lives could be saved if these resources were deployed to prevent pedestrians from getting onto the highways? How many lives could be saved if these resources were deployed to simply drive down the highway and address people driving dangerously? And are those lives really worth your R4.5mil in revenue from bus lane offenders?

Now ask yourself again why no-one in South Africa has any respect for the law.