Abstract Johannesburg is a high populated city faced by traffic.

Taking into consideratio n of monorail transport might reduce traffic jam and some of the environmental e ffects. Monorail is an advantage to the environment. With new technology monorai l transport is efficient and reliable. Therefore I believe it must be regarded a s a viable transport in Johannesburg IS A MONORAIL A VIABLE CHOICE OF TRANSPORT IN JOHANNESBURG? ... As modern technology increases, new technological vehicles are produced leading to rise in traffic congestion, city planners are re-examining the viability of t he monorail as a possible solution to traffic. A monorail is a transportation sy stem composed of a single rail that acts as a support mechanism and guide way. L ooking at Johannesburg the growth of the taxi industry saw significant market sh are shifting away from rail transport. In the late 1990s there was a decline in investment in the Metrorail system over a long period which resulted in a genera lly poor service in much of the country.According to (Philip van Ryneveld and Hu nter van Ryneveld) this lead to the introduction of the South African Rail Commu ter Corporation to act as a purchaser of services from the operator Metrorail. part of Transnet. The aim of SARCC was toensure rail commuter services were pro vided in the public interest and to promote rail as the primary mode of mass com muter transport and subsidy management this also included financial. Recently in Jo hannesburg gautrain was developed and the issue is how effective is it to reduce traffic congestion. According to the gautrain chairperson(Ms A Nair) their visi on is to provide an accessible, safe, reliable and affordable passenger transpor t system that willfollow integrated, stateoftheart technologies, change the cult ure of public transportusage and enable people to move freely within the Gauteng Province which also includes Johannesburg.The Gautrain Management Agency is com mitted to good corporate governance and prudent financialmanagement. South Africa is still a developing country and Johannesburg is one of the cities faced by an increase in population and traffic jam. As traffic jam is one of th e issue what will the invention of monorail transport and gautrain contribute an d how viable is monorail transport. How common is monorail transport It is believed that the use of monorail transport is increasing throughout the w orld day. Monorails are believed to be more dominant in Japan, eight of which ar e full-scale urban transit systems. Followed by Australia, Malaysia, Europe, Rus sia and in the United States. Several more are either under construction or in a dvanced planning. It is also said that a high number of passengers What is the effect of monorail transport to the environment? Apart of mono rail being a viable source of transport in Johannesburg is has neg ative effects to the environment which include the following Pollution, due to e xhaust from automobiles .construction of mono rail is expensive and its infrastr ucture is very costly. When taking a look to the environment the construction of the mono rail path way also disturb the ecosystem leading to the decline of sma ll species. They are also considered as environmentally friendly since they are mostly electrically powered, which result to monorails being non- polluting How reliable is monorail transport Due to Morden technology modern trains will offer international standards of pu blic transport with high levels of safety. These trains are believed to offer in ternational standards of public transport with high levels of safety, reliabilit y, predictability and comfort. Travelling at maximum speeds of 160 to 180 kilome tres per hour it will reach Tshwane from Johannesburg in less than 40 minutes. T he minimum frequency between Johannesburg and Tshwane will initially be six trai ns per hour per direction and it will operate approximately 18 hours per day.. T herefore this is an advantage to Johannesburg as a high populated province it wi ll reduce traffic jam only if most people will consider monorail transport. This public transport service will lead to the reduction of traffic as most people w ill prefer using monorail because it will be fast and convenient not forgetting that monorail transport is not affected by traffic. The gautrain

Recently in Johannesburg one of the monorail transport named gautrain was introd uced. It is has Safe and security features are extended to other facilities of the services such as the station precinct and vehicle parking areas. This is als o an advantage to passengers as they will have not to worry about their safety. Conclusion Monorail transport must be considered as a reliable source of transport. Especia lly in Johannesburg which faced by high rate of crime as the passengers will kno w that they are safe and will not spend much time travelling and it is also envi ronmental friendly