01 December 2015

Media Release

Taxis most used mode of public transport

Taxis are the commonly used mode of public transport in South Africa with just more than half (51,0%) of the households that use public transport (76,7%) relying on them, followed by busses (18,1%) and trains (7,6%). This was highlighted in the Measuring household expenditure on public transport technical report released by Statistics South Africa today.

This report indicates that the average per capita monthly household travel cost is higher for households from the highest income quintile (R404) when compared to households from the lowest income quintile (R136). Furthermore, taxis were reported to be the most expensive mode of travel with an average per capita monthly cost of R254, followed by trains (R248) and buses (R231).

Households from the lowest income quintile spent a higher proportion of their income on public transport compared to households from the highest income quintile. More than two-thirds of households who fall in the lowest income quintile spent more than 20% of their monthly household income per capita on public transport (66,6%). Less than 3% of households from the highest income quintile spent more than 20 per cent of their monthly household income per capita (2,9%) on transport.

The results show that about 3,7 million learners used public transport as their main mode of travel. Across all geographic locations, taxis were the most commonly used mode of transport, followed by buses and trains. Learners in households from the highest income quintile (R447) are more likely to spend more on their travel cost compared to learners in households from the lowest income quintile (R351). Trains were reportedly the most expensive mode of travel with an average monthly travel cost of R422, followed by travelling by bus (R393) and taxi (R375).

Most learners in households from the lowest income quintile spent more than 20% of their per capita monthly household income on public transport (98,2), followed by quintile 2 (88,7%) and quintile 3 (62,9%).

About 4 in 10 workers used public transport to reach their workplace (39,1%); taxis contributed the highest percentage (26,5%), followed by buses (7,6%) and trains (5,0%). Beside public transport, most workers drove a car/bakkie/truck to their workplace (30,8%), followed by those who walked all the way to their place of work (21,1%) and those who were passengers in a car/bakkie/truck (7,6%).

Workers in households from the highest income quintile are more likely to spend more on their travel costs (R582 per capita) compared to workers in households from the lowest income quintile (R491).

Taxis appeared to be the most expensive mode of travel with an average per capita monthly cost of R561, followed by travelling by buses (R502) and trains (R402).

It is evident from the results that workers in households from the lowest income quintile were more likely to spend more than 20% of their monthly household income per capita on public transport (98,9%). Approximately 6% of workers in households from the highest income quintile were likely to spend more than 20% of their monthly household income per capita on public transport (5,6%).

Note to editors:

This report explores the use of and expenditure on public transport as reported in the NHTS 2013 further. The National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) was conducted in 2003 and 2013 as a joint effort between Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) and the Department of Transport (DoT). The aim of the NHTS is to gain strategic insight into the travel patterns, travel modes and costs of South African households. Data collection in this regard took place between January and March 2013, and a total of 51 341 households and/or dwelling units were sampled, using a random stratified sample design.

The full report is available on the Statistics South Africa website: www.statssa.gov.za

Issued by Statistics South Africa

Technical enquires:

Ms. Kefiloe Masiteng
Deputy Director General: Population & Social Statistics
Tel: (012) 310 4663
Email: kefiloem@statssa.gov.za

Dr. Isabelle Schmidt
Executive Manager: Social Statistics
Tel: (012) 337 6379
Cell: 082 884 4281
Email: isabelsc@statssa.gov.za

Media enquiries:
Ms. Lesedi Dibakwane
Manager: Media Relations
Tel: (012) 310 8578
Cell: 082 805 7088
Email: lesedid@statssa.gov.za