Pretoria - Taxi operators and passengers in Centurion have finally put to use the controversial R12 million taxi rank they previously shunned and labelled a big parking lot owing to incomplete aspects.
Numerous taxi associations commuting passengers to Centurion from as far as Tembisa began moving their taxis into the taxi rank on Friday, and are expected to stop using the old rank situated on an open field as their taxi rank from today.
Construction work is carrying on at the new facility on the corner of South Street and Hendrik Verwoerd Drive, as the City works on providing all the prerequisites the taxi operators wanted before they consider it a proper taxi rank. Among these are shades, bins, an overflow area and bunks.
The local taxi industry previously criticised the City for using government money poorly by building a taxi rank that did not have the important things that the taxi operators and passengers required – something they blamed on inadequate consultation.
The rank stood unused for more than a year after the 2017 construction. The two stakeholders finally reached an agreement to have it used as engagements between the industry and the MEC for Roads and Transport, Dikeledi Selowa continued.
Selowa last month said the City had already given front-runner and home association, the Centurion Taxi Association, the keys and thumbs up, and were monitoring the situation to see when they would begin moving in.
The 10 000m² facility will be used by more than 12 000 commuters daily, accommodate 55 taxis, while providing holding areas for about 120 more, and was part of the City's plan to build a public transport hub.
City chief of staff Jordan Griffiths said: “The taxis there have started moving over, and they are getting settled and acclimatised to the new space. There are still a few arrangements we are wrapping up. We will release a formal statement and have the formal handover as well. We do not want to delay too much. ”
Taxi operator Alex Maela said they were happy to finally move into the taxi rank even though it presented challenges of space because it was smaller than the open field.
“Here we are finding that space is an issue, and loading our taxis at once in one bay during peak hours is going to be a challenge, especially when they have to drive out. At least construction is going on, so we are hopefully to have shades and signage installed shortly. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
“I think the mistake that was made is the lack of consultation. We could have saved them a headache of trying to do things right after a lot of time was wasted. This is a really big taxi rank, people come from taxis that fall under associations that come far, (from) Ivory Park, Mamelodi, Tembisa and some are from closer areas like Olievenhoutbosch.”
Passenger Rose Manamela said: “I do not think this makes much difference to use, because even the old open field did not have shades and bins and seats. For us, it is a matter of how far you now have to travel before you get to work. Those who are working at the mall are now happier because they now have a shorter distance to walk to get to work.”
Pretoria News