Thread: Talking about public transport

Crazy, isn't it? It's like a feeding frenzy. I can understand the guys who drive the taxis and have to earn a certain amount of fares each day to keep their job and the competition is crazy. That's not an excuse, though. I think the licensing is out of control - every senior government official and politician in town has a taxi license and gets some youngster to run the taxi for them. If the City limits the number of licenses and keeps tight control over them while at the same time giving the traffic police more resources to do a better job then I think that's half the problem solved. The City needs to get a certain number of taxis on the road, and the policy needs to crack down on these cowboy taxi drivers.

Fellow Shebeeners, the recent increase in fines for roadusers resulted in arguable boycotts from Taxi Drivers. Taxi drivers, though they were not the only ones facing the fines, took it personally with some good reasons(e.g. not enough stops for Taxi's, adversely effectign the genral publics access to board a Taxi) and some not really good ones (not wanting to wear a seatbelt, while this little rule is part of qualifying oneself as a competent driver at testing stage).

The high fines could save lifes on the positive side, but can bankcrupt many a road user which may have a an adverse effect on the Namibian economy in general. In turn has the City of Windhoek really thought through the fines? or did they need to first garner the Public's input?

Also, Taxi drivers did not think of the effect their not so well thought through actions had on their working customer base, aka the consumer. This brings the question of effectiveness of the Namibian Public transporting system.

The current big bulk municipal busses as an alternative in my opinion is really a time waste. I am thinking smaller, more effective public transport, be it the ministry of transport responsible for such project or be it the windhoek municipality. Let's talk!!

Good topic this. THe City Council should do a feasibility study into a metro rail system that runs all the way from Heroes Acre to Brakwater and has stations every few kilometers. It won't be cheap, but it will revolutionise public transport in Windhoek, and I think it could coexist with taxis, which really have to be better regulated and managed. I mean there is track already that reaches right into the heart of the city. Surely that land corridor can be used for this purpose?

I agree with you, Juikk, that the charges seem to be a bit on the higher end, and I can understand the taxi operators because of the stiff competition but the funds have to come from somwhere to keep the physical infrastructure in good nick, surely?

This is why I so disagreed with extending the railways to the North under the Nujoma Government. They should have built one in Windhoek!!

Thanks for the input Geek. Also interesting to check is in terms of affordibility is that we can really not fine 3 000 to ALL Namibians, irrespective of whether the one earns 60 000 per month or 2 000 per month. What is really the average income of Namibians? When I the passenger forget to put on my seatbelt, is it the Taxi man phasing the fine or myself? If myself is liable and myself is e.g. a pensioner, how much will I be fined? how about if I am unemployed? just saying....

Getting around in Windhoek and Namibia's other towns and cities can be challenging, given the lack of a proper public transport infrastructure and mass transit systems. The price of a taxi and bus fare can also be expensive.

Some general talk regaridng Taxis and ineffective public transporting system in Namibia, especially windhoek. Nowadays the guys choose the routes they feel like driving and people living in areas they discriminate are left hanging for hours on end before any taxi driver decides to transport them. This is really becoming redicilous.

Any takes on these?