A MASTER plan meant to improve the capital city's transport system will be unveiled next month.

The 20-year plan is a joint project that has been undertaken since July last year by Ministry of Works and Transport, City of Windhoek, Ministry of Local Government and Housing and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and is known as the Transport Master plan for Windhoek.

GIZ is the German government's development agency and its technical advisor Frederik Strompen told The Namibian that the plan is nearing completion and that it is meant to serve the city for the next 20 years. He also said the project was conducted on a consultative approach.

"The participatory approach was chosen as a suitable way to gather information during the development phase," he said.

Strompen said the partners took their time to have a realistic but also visionary planning document at hand. After the plan is published, all interested parties and the public at large will be given an opportunity to comment on the document.

"Implementation will start thereafter," Strompen confirmed. He said document will develop a prioritised plan for short, medium and long transport improvements.

With Windhoek's population growing at a rate of 4,3 % per annum, the capital is expected to have 737 000 residents by 2032. There is also a growing commuter transport need from Rehoboth and Okahandja, Strompen said.

Statistics in the plan show that close to half of the population in the city commute by taxis, which are said to be four times more expensive than in nine African cities surveyed. Strompen said poor residents spend about 24% of their income on transport, which he said is a lot compared to other cities worldwide and that only a quarter of the residents can afford to buy cars.

"The Master Plan aims to establish a public transport system that is accessible, safe and affordable for everybody. Although not all transport problems might be visible already, Windhoek is growing at a very high speed," he said.

The capital also has a high accident rate, which is 20% more than the national average.