By Umamah Bakharia

Gauteng residents spend at least an hour in their vehicles travelling to their destinations during peak hour traffic, with public transport making it even longer.

This is according to the General Household Travel Survey findings by the Council for Scientific Industrial Research (CSIR).

Gauteng MEC for Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure, Jacob Mamabolo released the latest regional household travel survey results to the municipalities this week.

Speaking to Radio Islam, CSIR Impact Area Manager Dr Mathetha Mokonyama says the survey was conducted to evaluate if the laws of the constitution are upheld.

In the findings, it was identified that people in Johannesburg choose to travel earlier in the morning to avoid traffic.

“For public transport users because they don’t necessarily have a choice [because] of a scheduled service in some cases they tend to be fixed in how they travel and therefore they experience longer travel time,” says Dr Mokonyame.

He adds that travel time over the past 20 years has however decreased over time.

“What we conclude is that the system is in distress and what we see is that households are taking matters into their own hands by [decreasing the number of cars that they use],” he says.