The Gauteng Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works (GDPTRW) will be running a 'High-Occupancy Vehicle Lane' pilot project on the Ben Schoeman highway, which runs between Johannesburg and Tshwane, on three days in October, the department announced on Thursday.

The project would prioritise vehicles containing four or more people, especially public transport, and would dedicate a special lane for such vehicles to travel in, the GDPTRW said in an emailed statement.

The pilot project, to be run on three consecutive Tuesdays, aimed to test for possible solutions to the worsening traffic problems in Gauteng.

“On a daily basis, countless economic opportunities are lost because of traffic congestion, further preventing us from creating more opportunities for job creating and poverty alleviation,” the statement said, adding that the delivery of essential services continued to be negatively affected by this challenge.

Some 320 000 vehicles currently used the Ben Schoeman highway everyday, which put pressure on economic activity as people were arriving late at their destinations, and were wasting time stuck in traffic, the GDPTRW lamented.

It pointed out that government was working to ease this problem through projects such as the Gautrain Rapid-Rail Link and the introduction of an intelligent transport system.

The department said that it hoped to find an all-inclusive and sustainable solution for the province's economic challenges through this pilot project, which was based on its belief that transport was the heartbeat of Gauteng's economy.

“We also believe that a public debate on the nature of our transport system will enhance the work that government does,” the department highlighted, and concluded by urging citizens to work together with it to find transport solutions for Gauteng.