THE private companies keeping Gauteng traffic lights ON
More than 120 Gauteng traffic lights have uninterrupted power thanks to private companies taking matters into their own hands.
If you’ve noticed an improvement Gauteng traffic lights during load-shedding, that’s not by accident. Nearly 50 private companies have weighed in to save the Gauteng traffic lights infrastructure as part of Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) Traffic Signal Backup Power Initiative (TSBPI).
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In a report by TimesLive, the JRA revealed it has far exceeded its aim of securing 35 intersections from load-shedding in 2023. More than 120 sets of Gauteng traffic lights have uninterrupted power thanks to private business. The goal is to reach 2 200 intersections eventually.
GAUTENG TRAFFIC LIGHTS SHINING BRIGHT
Back in July of last year, Vodacom was the first to sign up for the initiative and was quickly joined by Momentum, Santam, Growthpoint, Netcare and others. The companies assist by providing power of between 550-1 500 W/hour at complex intersections.
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Most of the assisted Gauteng traffic lights are located in Sandton, Rosebank and Midrand. That’s because that’s where many of the funding businesses operate with back-up power. As a result, 95% of Sandton’s intersections have been taken off the grid and stay on all the time. This is a boon for traffic flow during dreaded Gauteng rush-hour.
FOR THEIR OWN ACCOUNT
The companies incur cost in terms of the connection on the border of their own building, while JRA pays to take the power from the back-up source to the affected traffic light. The cost to do this can be as high as R500 000 depending on the length the power must travel.
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