Pretoria - The City of Johannesburg will next month demonstrate to the world how people can help reduce problems associated with climate change and traffic congestion on the road, which affect the environment and economy globally.
On Thursday, the City’s Mayor Parks Tau conducted an online media briefing together with International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) General Secretary, Gino Van Begin, on Africa’s first Eco-Mobility World Festival to take place in Johannesburg in October.
The eco-mobility festival was established about three years ago and it aims to reduce traffic congestion caused by the use of private cars in the cities. It promotes voluntary abstinence from private car use, turning the car filled neighbourhoods into the people friendly neighbourhoods.
The event will be held in Sandton throughout the month of October. Residents, workers and businesses will be encouraged to use buses, cycle and walk in and around the streets of Sandton.
Mayor Tau said the festival will demonstrate to the world that an eco-mobile future is possible and that public transport, walking and cycling can be accessible, safe and attractive.
He said the city conducted a study together with the business sector in and around Sandton to see how traffic congestion affected business in the area.
“The area is experiencing levels of congestions which, in our view, is totally unacceptable,” he said, adding that there was a need to intervene.
He believed the eco-mobility initiative would have economic benefits.
He said the first intervention will be investment in infrastructure to support mobility in the area through more use of public transport modes like buses, including building of walking and cycling lanes across the N1 highway.
The Mayor said this will assist a lot of people who spend a lot of time stuck in traffic.
He said there is economic value in this, in that the local government together with national government and international partnerships are looking into using natural gas to propel buses that will be used, and this will assist in addressing the environmental problems caused by many cars on the road.
Mayor Tau said the results of the introduction of eco-mobility initiative will benefit the current and future generations.
He said Johannesburg, as a cosmopolitan city and commercial hub of the country and the continent, is raising its hand also on behalf of its peer cities to show commitment in doing their part regarding issues of climate change.
Mayor Tau said he has witnessed interest by businesses to address issues of climate change, through the “development of green-buildings technologies that meet international standard”. “This is demonstrating commitment by business to intervene, and we are convinced that the next step will be to intervene through the mobility side,” he said.
Van Begin echoed the Mayor’s sentiments, saying there has been a rapid increase of private car use over the years globally and the traffic congestion affects the economy.
He said the eco-mobility initiative aims to come up with permanent solutions through the use of urban transport, to address the effects that private car use have on the environment and economic output of cities.
It is envisaged that this festival will be used as an example for how other cities and the international community can mitigate air pollution, traffic congestions and other factors caused by private car use.-SAnews.gov.za
