[imagesource: Getty]

One of the (few) perks of the lockdown is that with so many people working from home, traffic remains a distant and awful memory from the before times.

Things are starting to resemble something akin to normal now, and while traffic hasn’t been nearly as bad as it was in the past, chances are it won’t stay that way for long.

Living in Cape Town comes with its own special brand of rage-inducing congestion, earning us the not-so-coveted place as the city with the worst congestion in South Africa, according to the Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard.

CapeTalk spoke to honourary research associate at UCT, Dr Lisa Kane, an independent sustainable transport consultant, about the issue.

She puts it down to the 30% hike in population over the last decade, and a 30% increase in the number of vehicles on the road. The failing public transport system isn’t helping things, either.

We also have the public transport system operating at an unstable equilibrium.

The railway and bus system has room for improvement and expansion but a lack of infrastructure investment has created a hold-up, says Kane.

The taxi system, she says, provides a better solution as it is very responsive to demand.

That’s great, except we’ve all experienced the joy of driving behind a taxi that has abandoned all road rules, so there’s that to take into consideration as well.

Kane reckons the following solutions should be implemented to deal with the traffic situation:

• The rail system should be corrected
• Manage the roads properly – Traffic lights, extra lanes and walking, and cycling lanes
• Carpooling
• Investment on road infrastructure

The other option is to leave your car at home for longer trips and when you need to shuttle more than one passenger around, and invest in a Vespa.

The money you’ll save on petrol is reason alone. Add avoiding the psychological pain of sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic into the mix, and the reasons for driving anything else slowly melt away.

Plus, it’s almost summer, and the city always looks and feels better when you’re zooming around, and through traffic, on a two-wheeler.

Check out the full range on Vespa’s website, for easy browsing.

Once you’ve picked out the two-wheeler that best suits your vibe, drop Seth a line at editor@2oceansvibemedia.com, and he’ll hook you up with a sweet deal.

If you’re still on the fence and need a little more motivation to get the ball rolling, you can listen to the full chat with Dr. Kane, detailing the horrors of Cape Town traffic:

[source:capetalk]