EcoMobility Month

When former Gauteng Premier Mbhazima (Sam) Shilowa announced the Gautrain rapid rail system way back in February 2000, the project – then dubbed the “Shilowa Express” – was met with widespread criticism and disparagement.
Today it is an iconic and irreplaceable infrastructural system that transports up to 63 000 rail passengers a day. Moreover, plans are on the table for its expansion further south, and to the west and north, of its original anchor station in Sandton.
On a broader canvas, the sudden appearance, and instantaneous worldwide success, of the Uber (taxi) and Airbnb (bread-and-breakfast) sharing economy platforms also confounded their critics.
Now that the month-long EcoMobility World Festival in Sandton has begun to take hold, those of us impacted by the event should give it the benefit of our curiosity before we pass judgement on its outcome.
No matter how potentially disruptive and intrusive EcoMobility may appear at this early stage, we should not lose sight of the fact that many positive outcomes have resulted from ideas and projects that were never believed possible at original face value.
Pedal power
On a personal note, I feel vindicated by the fact that pedal power is a key focus of Eco-Mobility Month – with the provision of four cycle lanes, as well as cycle storage facilities.
In May this year I appealed to Jo’burg City to establish a permanent cycle lane alongside the arterial Rivonia/Oxford Road link between Sandton City and Rosebank. It has become one of the Metro’s most persistently vehicle-clogged strips of roadway at peak-hours – and, often, in between.
Frustrated by consistent traffic logjams, motorists on this and other routes have turned adjacent quiet and leafy Johannesburg/Sandton suburbs into race tracks as they peel off in search of alternative routes – invariably along streets that were not designed for high traffic flow.
The property value-diluting threat of this phenomenon remains a major concern.

Article by: Ronald Ennik - Ennik Estates