Advice for travellers

Transport in Johannesburg

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Visitors are warned that Johannesburg, much like Los Angeles, is a young and sprawling city geared to the freeway-borne private motorist, and lack of convenient public transport is a serious obstacle for tourists to the city.

So if you have friends or business contacts at hand to help with transport, don't feel shy about imposing yourself – Johannesburgers expect to be asked to give travellers lifts.

CAR AND MOTORBIKE RENTALS

Minibus taxis

Like many African cities, Johannesburg has a chaotic informal public transport system in the form of minibus "taxis". These are not taxis in the typical Western sense of the term – they won't give you a lift to your doorstep. Rather, they are small-scale bus services, often unmarked, operating with neither timetables nor formal stops.

Taxis are the cheapest form of transport in Johannesburg, and are the daily transport lifeline of the bulk of the working population.

More adventurous travellers will find them an interesting African experience – the closest you may get to mixing with ordinary people. They are also the only form of public transport that penetrates every last sector of the city, including the poorest shack settlements.

But there are three reasons why a tourist should exercise caution. Firstly, use of the taxi system for anything other than a short drive requires an expert knowledge of the unwritten lore of hand signs indicating which taxi is travelling where, and an understanding of the various routes and how they intersect.

Second, despite frequent clampdowns by the traffic authorities, minibus taxis tend to be old and in poor condition. Third, minibus taxi drivers, rushing their fares to their destinations as quickly as possible in order to maximise returns, are the city's most notorious drivers, ducking wildly from lane to lane and stopping without warning whenever a passenger wishes to climb on or off.

However, during the Fifa Confederations Cup in 2009 and the 2010 Fifa World Cup, an approved fleet of minibus taxis has been put together to ferry football fans to venues free of charge.

Metered taxis

There are conventional metered taxis, but unlike in many other countries these do not cruise the streets in search of passengers, and must generally be summonsed by telephone. Major hotels do often reserve bays for taxi companies, however, and in those that don't, reception staff can quickly make arrangements for visitors.

Railway system

The metro railway system is the cheapest form of transport, connecting central Johannesburg to Soweto, Pretoria and most of the satellite towns along the Witwatersrand. The railways transport huge numbers of workers every day.

But again there is a problem, at least for the typical tourist. The railway infrastructure was built in Johannesburg's infancy and covers only the older areas in the city's south. In the past half century Johannesburg has grown largely northwards, and none of the northern areas, including the key business districts of Sandton, Midrand, Randburg and Rosebank, have any rail infrastructure.

Bus services

Set up as a company in 2000, Metrobus is wholly owned by the City of Johannesburg. It is also the second largest municipal bus operator in South Africa, with 532 buses covering 80 scheduled routes and 130 school routes.

The fleet includes six six special needs buses fitted with hydraulic wheelchair lifts.

Metrobus transports about 90 000 passengers daily. One of its primary focuses is to provide transport for major events.

Last updated: June 2009

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