published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

A few years ago bicycles, buses and trains were the main mode of transport for the movement of indigent persons and goods in the study area of Mafikeng. From the late seventies, with the advent of taxis everywhere, these established modes of transport diminished to an extent that, in this recent study, well over 90 percent of the 200 interviewed commuters, were shown to be affirmed regular minibus-taxi passengers. It has been proved by this research and others that the taxi industry, provides passengers with a relatively comfortable and acceptable transport system. However, an increase in vehicle ownership and the flourishing taxi business, have complicated and compromised road traffic with resultant complex and serious problems of traffic safety to road congestion and related violation of the road rules by reckless taxi drivers. Unparalled deaths and expenses resulted from delays, accidents and incidental violence, a situation which is detrimental to the sustainable development of the capital's economy, road users and destroyed properties. If the Mafikeng society is to continue in stability, certain essential tasks need to be put into operation. If the city fails, society may disintegrate or change its form drastically. A certain degree of order and stability are essential for the survival of the social system. The study therefore, recommended, inter alia, that a prerequisite be set rigorously, to guide and educate members into the acceptable ways of society. so as to empower and ease the burden of the police and legal systems in keeping a firm check on any deviation from traffic safety and that, the aim and objectives of taxi associations. primarily be on the improvement of services provided by its members to the public. / (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005

The South African taxi industry has experienced large-scale growth in the nineteen nineties and increased its share of the passenger transport market to a majority. However, it tends to suffer from various problems and has been subject to interventions from various quarters, the most recent being the Central Government's recapitalization scheme. The aim of this research was to investigate the perceptions of taxi-owners vis-a-vis the Government's Recapitalization Scheme. More specifically, the objectives were: • To critically appraise the government's recapitalization scheme with a view to assessing its impact on the taxi industry • To establish the economic problems that are faced by the taxi industry in achieving development, thereby empowering the industry and • To identify the capacity-building needs of the taxi-owners. Consequently, while recognizing the notion that 'poor understanding of taxi-owners towards the government's recapitalization scheme has led to resistance on their side'; this research maintains that the taxi-owners' main expectation of the government's recapitalization scheme relates to black economic empowerment. Hence, the view that the government should assist the taxi industry to face the current development challenges. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the study focused on short distance taxi-owners under Umsunduzi one municipality in Pietermaritzburg. The main focus of this research was on their perceptions towards the proposed government's recapitalization scheme. Of the 137 taxi-owners, representing 21 Associations, in Pietermaritzburg, the majority of the respondents have positive perceptions towards the scheme. One other concern raised was that the proposed vehicles are too big and that the scheme would impact negatively on some owners who operate on routes where there is only a small number of commuters, as a result the new vehicle will take time to fill with the required number of passengers. The other concern was that some of the drivers and conductors, who are sometimes bread-winners in their homes, were going to lose their jobs. However, they felt that to run their businesses effectively, they would benefit from the government assistance in terms of business skills, education and training. The taxi-owners interviewed, felt that the government is taking too long to implement the scheme and they suggested that the government speed up the process. In addition to the recapitalization scheme, the taxi-owners felt that the government should provide the infrastructure for the scheme, for example taxi ranks with facilities. The taxi-owners believe that conflict within the industry is a threat to their business and they felt that the government should assist them in solving this problem. Findings show that taxi-owners in Pietermaritzburg support the proposed recapitalization scheme. However, some of the taxi-owners are still not clear about the whole process of the recapitalization scheme. The taxi-owners suggested therefore, that the government should communicate more with the taxi-owners in order to implement the scheme successfully. Furthermore, government intervention is required so as to capacitate the taxi-owners by providing them with relevant skills. Infrastructure improvement is required so as to make the taxi business viable. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment for a Masters in Management in the field of Public and Development Management. February 2017 / Minimum wage laws in South Africa have been enacted and implemented for some time with a broader intention that purports to protect and regulate what are categorized at least from state’s definition as the vulnerable sectors, which includes the taxi industry. The minibus taxi industry in South Africa is characterized and plagued by inherent exploitative labour relations between taxi drivers and operators. There are often contrasting views and disagreement on the minimum wage which is supposed to be implemented by the Department of Labour as the custodian of all the labour laws in the country through inspections and enforcement by labour inspectors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions held by the various stakeholders in the taxi industry with respect to the implementation of the Sectoral Wage Determination 11 as provided for by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, of1997. Interviews were held with ten taxi drivers, ten taxi operators based in Johannesburg and from the Department of Labour, and three team leaders in the Inspection and Enforcement Services, all based and servicing Johannesburg. The study established that there is enough knowledge and appreciation of the minimum wage; however, there is to a large extent transgressions and noncompliance from employers in the industry. Monitoring and enforcement remain a challenge fuelled by peculiarities and the dynamism that is not in tandem with industry realities and legislative prescripts. / MT2017

This dissertation investigates cabdriving as a form of spatial work, involved in the production and reproduction of social space through three interrelated products: physical movement from place to place; the experience of movement, of connection made between places; and the articulation of these places, movements, and experiences with visions of society and the social. The particular forms of knowledge involved in this work, and the politics in which taxicabs are entangled, are explored through fieldwork conducted in two very different cities: Mexico City and San Francisco, California. The political context of cabdriving knowledge changes as new technologies are introduced into the cab to reframe the relationship between the interior of the cab (where passengers and drivers interact) and the exteriors (urban and informational spaces) through which it passes. In Mexico City, interviews with libre, base, and sitio cabdrivers about their knowledge and work strategies revealed three aspects of cabdriving as a rhythm analytical practice: 1) the points of confluence, i.e., the spatial pattern or method by which drivers link up with passengers; 2) the temporal and monetary patterns of constraint the occupation puts on drivers; and 3) the sense of the city which emerges, as this is described by drivers. Each form of taxicab has different patterns of movement, and different spatial and technological means of establishing contact with customers, which results in differing experiences and strategies elaborated by drivers. In San Francisco, interviews were conducted with taxi, limousine, and "ridesharing" drivers on the impact of smartphone-enabled "e-hailing" technology. The term allegorithm (the productive co-deployment of a socially relevant allegorical script and a software-mediated algorithm) is borrowed from gaming studies to describe how interfaces reframe the cab-riding experience. Of particular interest is the emergence of "ridesharing," or the overcab (a cab-riding experience which is superior to the experience of riding in a cab). The effectiveness of the overcab’s reframing project depends on the acceptance and performance by participants of the "overcab" narrative. There are indications that the transcendence of the overcab is fragile, and that cracks are developing in the experiences of both drivers and passengers, due to continuing tensions which the overcab has failed to resolve, or which have been introduced as part of its regulating mechanism.

The study focused on the taxi industry as a services industry due to its contribution to the economies of both developed and the developing countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate ways to improve service delivery in the South African taxi industry. This industry is one of the underperforming industries in South Africa with regard to service quality due to over-serviced taxi routes and a lack of information about the needs and desires of the taxi commuters. The primary objective of this study was to investigate how to improve the service quality of taxi operators in the Nelson Mandela Bay by applying theories and concepts of services marketing and total quality management (TQM). More specifically, the study investigated whether taxi drivers have the required knowledge of services marketing and service quality, and what service quality challenges taxi drivers and commuters face. The sample consisted of 20 taxi drivers and 101 student commuters using taxis on the Port Elizabeth routes. The empirical results showed that taxi drivers perform unsatisfactorily on the four TQM elements: leadership, employee involvement, product/ process excellence and customer focus. The results also reflected the general perception in the Eastern Cape that taxi service quality is poor. Of the five service quality dimensions (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy), the taxi drivers performed the best in reliability and the worst in empathy. The empirical results further suggested that taxi services do not meet the expectations of commuters, as deficits were reported between expectations and perceptions of actual service quality. The different quality dimensions used in the measurement of taxi service quality and their empirical results could provide a guideline to taxi service leadership and government on the critical aspects of taxi service quality.

Bibliography: pages 229-245. / This thesis is centred around the experiences of traders and taximen in Qwaqwa, the smallest of South Africa's 'homelands'. It aims to investigate the extent to which small-scale entrepreneurs of various kinds can be seen to be participating in processes of class formation within the homeland. The focus adopted directs attention away from the issue of poverty which has dominated rural research over the past decade. The thesis also seeks to contribute to existing studies of class formation in the homelands, which address the problem from the perspective of 'state' and 'capital'. This study seeks to broaden this focus through a historical analysis of social processes at the local-level. It argues that traders and taximen in Qwaqwa cannot simply be regarded as the recipients of state initiatives, but are agents in forging their own opportunities and relationships.

Bibliography: pages 142-152. / In recent years, the South African transportation system has witnessed the rise of intermediate forms of transport, in particular the kombi taxi. Though referred to as a taxi, the kombi taxi differs from the typical sedan taxi. As a taxi, the kombi is a minibus vehicle, typically of Volkswagen, Toyota or Datsun make. In South Africa, the kombi taxi is legally allowed a maximum passenger capacity of eight, whereas the sedan taxi is generally licenced to carry a maximum of five passengers. In terms of patronage, the sedan taxi is more often used by businessmen and holidaymakers, as well as commuting youngsters and the elderly on a sporadic basis. Like the sedan taxi, the kombi taxi is privately owned and operated. However, the kombi taxi is used on a more regular basis and frequently conveys passengers along a set route, operating more like a bus service than a taxi service. Fares charged by kombi taxi drivers are set according to route as opposed to the metered rate charged by the sedan taxi operator. The kombi taxi is used by the non-white community in particular and has become a feature of commuter demand satisfaction. Interest in the South African kombi taxi was sparked as a result of the 1983 Commission of Inquiry into Bus Passenger Transport (Welgemoed, 1983). The report, among other things, considered the effect of taxis on the bus industry and covered future transportation policy. One of the recommendations of the Welgemoed Commission was that the kombi taxi be phased out over a four-year period in order to protect existing and future bus services in the Republic. Given the spatial patterning of South African cities and the important role of intermediate forms of transportation in filling an existing mobility/demand gap, it became apparent that the issue of the kombi taxi required further I analysis in order that its role and function as part of the South African transportation system could be better understood. Thus, the Cape Town Metropolitan Transportation Area was chosen for specific study.

Bibliography: pages 196-213. / This thesis treats the role of the jitney in urban transportation from an economic perspective. The method of enquiry begins with a theory review including a description of the jitney, the distinction between passenger and operator costs, economies of scale and scope, market structure, and an allocatively efficient pricing rule for the jitney industry. It is asserted that in an unregulated urban transportation market a socially efficient pricing structure arises, which reconciles both user and producer costs. A discussion of the rise and decline of the jitney industry in Cape Town from 1924 to 1931 and industry developments in the 1970's and 1980's places this exposition within an historic context. Policy implications of the aforegoing analysis are suggested with respect to the potential role to be played by the jitney in urban public transport. Based on this approach, an alternative consideration of the competition between the jitney and conventional transport methods is proposed.