Air
Main article: List of airports in the Durban area
King Shaka International Airport services both domestic and international flights, with regularly scheduled service to Dubai, Swaziland, Mozambique, and Mauritius. The airport opened in May 2010, replacing all operations from Durban International Airport, which handled four million passengers in 2005, up over 15 percent from 2004. King Shaka International Airport was constructed at La Mercy, about 36 kilometres (22 mi) north of central Durban. All operations at Durban International have been transferred to King Shaka International as of 1 May 2010; with plans for flights to Singapore, London and Australia.The Durban International Airport was used by the South African Defence Force during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and as a secondary airport to handle overflow.
The airport serves as a major gateway for travellers to KwaZulu-Natal and the Drakensberg.
Sea
The modern Port of Durban grew around trade from Johannesburg, as the industrial and mining capital of South Africa is not located on any navigable body of water. Thus, products being shipped from Johannesburg outside of South Africa have to be loaded onto trucks or railways and transported to Durban. The Port of Maputo was unavailable for use until the early 1990s due to civil war and an embargo against South African products. There is now an intense rivalry between Durban and Maputo for shipping business.
Salisbury Island now joined to the mainland and part of the Port of Durban, was formerly a full naval base until it was downgraded in 2002. It now contains a naval station and other military facilities. The future of the base, however, is uncertain, as there is increasing demand to use Salisbury Island as part of the port facilities.
Rail
Durban featured the first operating steam railway in South Africa when the Natal Railway Company started operating a line between the Point and the city of Durban in 1860.[29]Durban is well-served by railways due to its role as the largest trans-shipment point for goods from the interior of South Africa. Shosholoza Meyl, the passenger rail service of Spoornet, operates two long-distance passenger rail services from Durban: a daily service to and from Johannesburg via Pietermaritzburg, and a weekly service to and from Cape Town via Kimberley and Bloemfontein. These trains terminate at Durban railway station.
Metrorail operates a commuter rail service in Durban and the surrounding area. The Metrorail network runs from Durban Station outwards as far as Stanger on the north coast, Kelso on the south coast, and Cato Ridge inland.
A high speed rail link has been proposed, between Johannesburg and Durban.[30]
Roads
The N3 Western Freeway starts in the central business district and heads west under Tollgate Bridge and through the suburbs of Sherwood and Mayville. The EB Cloete Interchange (which is informally nicknamed the Spaghetti Junction) lies to the east of Westville, allowing for transfer of traffic between the N2 Outer Ring Road and the Western Freeway.
The N2 Outer Ring Road cuts through the city from the north coast to the south coast. It provides a vital link to the Durban International Airport and to the coastal towns (such as Scottburgh and Stanger) that rely on Durban.
Durban also has a system of freeway and dual arterial metropolitan routes, which connect the sprawling suburbs that lie to the north, west and south of the city. The M4 exists in two segments: The northern segment, named the Leo Boyd Highway, starts as an alternative highway at Ballito where it separates from the N2. It passes through the northern suburbs of Umghlanga and La-Lucia where it becomes a dual carriageway and ends at the northern edge of the CBD. The southern segment of the M4, the Albertina Sisulu Highway, starts at the southern edge of the CBD, connecting through to the Durban International Airport, where it once again reconnects with the N2 Outer Ring Road.
The M7 connects the southern industrial basin with the N3 and Pinetown via Queensburgh via the N2. The M19 connects the northern suburbs with Pinetown via Westville.
The M13 is an untolled alternative to the N3 Western Freeway (which is tolled at Mariannhill). It also feeds traffic through Gillitts, Kloof, and Westville. In the Westville area it is called the Jan Smuts Highway, while in the Kloof area it is named the Arthur Hopewell Highway.
A number of streets in Durban were renamed in the late 2000s to the names of figures related to the anti-apartheid struggle, persons related to liberation movements around the world (including Che Guevera, Kenneth Kaunda and SWAPO), and others associated with the governing African National Congress.[31] A few street names were changed in the first round of renaming, followed by a larger second round.[32] The renamings provoked incidents of vandalism,[33] as well as protests from opposition parties [34] and members of the public.[35]
Buses
Remant Alton, a company which bought Durban Transport in 2003, operated scheduled bus services throughout the Durban metropolitan area. However, Remant Alton's services were suspended in March 2009 due to violent industrial action by its employees, unroadworthy vehicles and the company's poor financial position.[36] Remant Alton is barely functional, has lost key individuals,[37] suffered the loss of 56 buses in a fire, and had many of the remainder impounded due to unroadworthiness.[citation needed] This has left Durban with a poorly functioning formal public transport system.[citation needed]The Durban People Mover is a tourist-oriented bus service which runs every 15 minutes and consists of three routes within the central business district and along the beachfront, connecting various attractions.[38]
Several companies run long-distance bus services from Durban to the other cities in South Africa. Buses have a long history in Durban. Most of them run by Indian owners since the early 1930`s. Privately owned buses who are not subsidised by the government service the communities timeoulsy. Buses operate in all areas of the eThekwini Municipality. Since 2003 buses have been violently taken out of the routes and bus ranks by taxi operators. This has brought bus operations into disarray. Bus owners have bought into taxi operations using their bus permits to make a living.
Taxis
Durban has two kinds of taxis: metered taxis and minibus taxis. Unlike many cities, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the city to solicit fares and instead must be called and ordered to a specific location. There are a number of companies which service the Durban and surrounding regions. These taxis can also be called upon for airport transfers, point to point pick ups and shuttles.Mini bus taxis are the standard form of transport for the majority of the population who cannot afford private cars.[39][40][41] With the high demand for transport by the working class of South Africa, minibus taxis are often filled over their legal passenger allowance, making for high casualty rates when minibuses are involved in accidents. Minibuses are generally owned and operated in fleets, and inter-operator violence flares up from time to time, especially as turf wars over lucrative taxi routes occur.[42]
Rickshaws
Durban is also famous for its iconic Zulu Rickshaw pullers navigating throughout the city. These colourful characters are famous for their giant, vibrant hats and costumes. Although they had been a mode of transportation since the early 1900s, they have been displaced by other forms of motorised transport, and the 25 or so remaining rickshaws mostly cater to tourists today.[43]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durban
