Rising transport costs are forcing motorists to cut back on travel, with public transport users among those hardest hit.
Image: Henk Kruger/FIle
More than 40% of public transport users say they have been forced to travel less because of transport costs, according to a new University of Cape Town study.
Motorists are also cutting back, with 31% saying they have restricted their driving because of fuel prices.
The findings come from the UCT Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing’s Commuter Report 2026, which surveyed 2,198 commuters across the country and included 100 in-depth interviews.
The report found that 45% of motorists had tried to bring down their commuting costs over the past year, while 15% had moved to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars.
Public transport users have fewer options when costs increase.
“While private vehicle owners can adjust their habits or downsize to cope with inflation, public transport users have far fewer levers to pull,” said Paul Egan, managing consultant at the UCT Liberty Institute.
Egan said millions of South Africans already experienced “travel poverty”, where restricted mobility directly limits access to job opportunities, basic services and personal wellbeing.
The study found that 59% of private-car commuters would switch to trains if safe and reliable services were available.
Among taxi and bus users, the figure was 62%.
But despite the cost of owning and running a vehicle, almost 70% of public transport commuters said they would prefer to travel by car.
The study found that this was largely about safety and having more control over their journey, rather than status.
“I want to control what time I leave and arrive, and I want to be in control of my own safety,” one public transport user told researchers.
Safety was a concern for commuters regardless of how they travelled.
About 41% of public transport users said they feared for their personal safety on South African roads, compared with 33% of motorists.
Another 14% of drivers reported experiencing serious road rage.
Report co-author Associate Professor James Lappeman said owning a car gave commuters more independence, but did not necessarily remove the stress of travelling.
“Owning a vehicle offers schedule control and independence, but for many drivers, that control comes bundled with anxiety, road stress and safety concerns,” he said.
The study also looked at what people do to get through the daily journey.
Researchers identified five commuter types: the escapist, the recharger, the social connector, the time optimiser and the endurer.
The escapist uses music, radio or podcasts to shut out traffic and surrounding noise, while the recharger prefers quiet time, reflection or prayer.
Social connectors use the journey to talk to other passengers, while time optimisers try to make use of the trip by planning, organising or making phone calls.
Then there is the endurer, who focuses on getting through the journey.
Lappeman said commuters did not necessarily fall into one group all the time.
“You might want to be productive on a Monday morning when starting the work week, and an escapist by Friday afternoon when you just want to switch off,” he said.
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