Different methods of Transport in South Africa include roads, railways, airports, water, and pipelines for petroleum oil. The majority of people in South Africa use informal minibus taxis as their main mode of transport. BRT has been implemented in some South African cities in an attempt to provide more formalised and safer public transport services. These systems have been widely criticised due to their large capital and operating costs. A "freeway" is different from most countries as certain things are forbidden which include certain motorcycles, no hand signals, and motor tricycles. South Africa has many major ports including Cape Town, Durban, and Port Elizabeth that allow ships and other boats to pass through, some carrying passengers and some carrying petroleum tankers.
Roads
The national speed limit is 60 km/h in residential areas and 120 national roads/freeways/motorways. In 2002 the country had 362,099 km of highways, 73,506 km of which was paved. In South Africa, the term freeway differs from most other parts of the world. A freeway is a road where certain restrictions apply. The following are forbidden from using a freeway:
a vehicle drawn by an animal;
a pedal cycle ;
a motor cycle having an engine with a cylinder capacity not exceeding 50 cm3 or that is propelled by electrical power;
a motor tricycle or motor quadrucycle;
pedestrians
Drivers may not use hand signals on a freeway and the minimum speed on a freeway is. Drivers in the rightmost lane of multi-carriageway freeways must move to the left if a faster vehicle approaches from behind to overtake. Despite popular opinion that "freeway" means a road with at least two carriageways, single carriageway freeways exist, as is evidenced by the statement that "the roads include 1400 km of dual carriageway freeway, 440 km of single carriageway freeway and 5300 km of single carriage main road with unlimited access." The Afrikaans translation of freeway is snelweg.
Road Transport
The Department of Transport is responsible for the regulation of all transportation in South Africa, including public transport, rail transportation, civil aviation, shipping, freight, and motor vehicles. According to the Department's vision statement, "Transport the heartbeat of South Africa's economic growth and social development!"
Minibus Taxis are the predominant form of transport for people in urban areas of South Africa. This is due to their availability and affordability to the public. Most minibus taxis are not subsidized by the state and the taxi industry is notorious for using vehicles that are not well maintained are that are often not roadworthy to keep costs low. Because many taxi owners own just a few taxis and each owner may choose to manage their business differently, there is not much known as to the inner workings of the industry that is rife with violence. Since 1994 there have been efforts to formalize the industry but as taxi organisations often don't abide by labour regulations, relationships between taxi operators and the state are often strained.
Cape Town and MyCiTi IRT
The City of Cape Town has made it clear that developing public transportation must be a priority, if it is to achieve its long-term developmental goals. As such, the City has planned out the development of an Integrated Rapid Transit system called "MyCiTi IRT". In 2007, the construction of this system began with the implementation of Cape Town's "Bus Rapid Transit" system. This first phase has been designed to enable easy integration of other forms of public transport - ranging from cycling to South Africa's famous minibuses in later phases of the IRT development - including rail transit, seen currently as "the backbone of public transportation in Cape Town."
South Africa has International Airports in four cities: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Nelspruit. The main international airports are in Johannesburg, and to a lesser extent Cape Town. Nespruit's international airport mainly serves travellers en route to the Kruger National park. There are many international airlines travelling to South Africa, giving travellers a healthy number of options. These include British Airways, Delta Airlines, Ethiopian Airways, Kenya Airways, Qantas Airways, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Swiss International Airlines, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Air Mauritius, Air Namibia, Air Botswana, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, Alitalia, Malaysia Airlines, and Qatar Airways.
There are 931 km of crude oil pipeline transport, 1,748 km for other petroleum products, and 322 km for natural gas. Petronet, a subsidiary of Transnet, which in turn is majority-owned by the government, is principally responsible for the operation of South Africa's pipelines.
Tramways
A number of urban tramway systems operated in South Africa but no longer do so. The last system began in 1890 as Rand Tramway and ceased operations in 1961.
