Most Gauteng residents fall in the lower socioeconomic class brackets and rely mostly on minibus taxis to get around. However, many say they opt for private cars when they can – either as drivers or passengers, according to the data from the Gauteng-City Region Observatory.

The GCRO’s 2023/24 Quality of Life survey shows that despite private cars being one of the most expensive options, the proportion of people driving has increased from 17% to 27% in the past 10 years.

The survey measures socioeconomic class on a one-to-10 scale based on factors such as household income, employment, education, medical aid membership and internet access. In general, the ratio of cars to other modes of transport increases with each wealth bracket: the higher the class, the more people use cars.

The survey also collects monthly transport spend from each respondent. The poorest spend as little as R200 a month on transport, while the wealthiest spend R2,000.