The Outside World from a Minibus Taxi - Part 1

Ask any motorist in South Africa what freaks him (or her) out the most and the chances are good that they will have minibus taxi's on top of their list. You see, at least 80% of the population in South Africa rely on these taxi's for transport as they cannot afford vehicles of their own. Sit in the morning traffic and you will see thousands of cars with only one driver and no passengers, and inbetween you will see overloaded minibus taxi's swerving from one lane to the other, stopping whenever and wherever they please and pissing off motorists one after the other.

I was on my way home in the rain when I took this picture of a minibus taxi overtaking a long line of vehicles on the left hand side. First of all, we drive on the left, so overtaking should normally happen on the right. Secondly he was doing it in a yellow lane wich is reserved for bicycles, broken down vehicles and the occasional stopping of busses and cars should it be required. This lane is also used by pedestrians, as many people walk home to save on taxi fare.  So to cut a long explanation short...it is illegal to pass vehicles using that lane.

My immediate reaction in the past would've been to get furious, perhaps curse and in the process probably shorten my lifespan by a couple of days in the effort of getting over my anger. If rules apply to one road user, then it should apply to other road users as well. That's my belief. So why didn't it bother me much that he was illegally pushing in in front of me?

1) I am sitting all alone in my kombi microbus that can carry 10 people. I am using the same amount of fuel and polluting the earth at the same rate than what 17 other people are doing in that one taxi.

2) I am on my way home. That taxi driver has spent the WHOLE day on the road along with other irate  drivers and he is probably going to spend another few hours on the road before he gets home to his family.

3) It takes me at the most 20 minutes to get home in peak traffic. Some of his passengers take 2 hours hopping from one taxi to the other before they actually reach their destination.  He is shortening their travel time and brightening their day at the same time.

4) He is providing a service and making money. Unfortunately for him his best time to make money is during peak hours when the rest of Cape Town's selfish motorists are on their way home. And besides, I am just sitting there wasting time and fuel and in no rush to get anywhere.

5) His illegal passing does not influence me at all. After a few meters down the road he will stop to drop passengers and I will pass him again. And if I do not pass him, so what? I am just one more car further back in the line and eventually we all reach our destination .

6) Despite how worked up I get, he just carries on with his job. So why would I put my health under such stress when the taxi driver and all his passengers are quite relaxed and going about their day as if nothing bad is happening?

A friend of mine told me a while ago that he also used to get very upset about the taxi drivers and their driving behaviour. He was just like me, sitting alone in his own car and shouting insults while waving his fists every now and then to show his disaproval to a clearly nonchalant taxi driver . Then one day he decided to take a taxi himself...just for the experience. While sittting in the taxi looking at the "outside world" all he saw were selfish angry drivers with frowns creasing their faces working themselves up into a frenzy. Sitting back, relaxed with no driving related stress while getting from point A to point B in a much shorter time than he was used to...and with much less money spent made him think. Since that day his outlook changed and his opinion convinced me to change my outlook as well. So my next "adventure" is going to be my FIRST taxi ride, to see what it feels like...and to get a glimpse of the "outside world" from a minibus taxi...just like he did.