Abstract:
Environmental sustainability has become an essential part in the planning and construction
of modern transport infrastructure. External pressures and agreements to achieve
environmental sustainability targets need to be considered constantly, as South Africa is a
signatory to global stewardship in managing common environmental problems. Currently,
there are innovative ideas in terms of making transport infrastructure more environmentally
sustainable, however, many of them are expensive and often untested, especially within
the South African context. As such South Africa has identified indicators and variables that
represent the country’s ability to respond to the global stewardship collectively, one of
which is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This essay argues that rather than
spending money on uncertain innovations, changes in the current transportation system
such as traffic control methods may result in large scale greenhouse gas emissions
savings. Through an analysis of stop-controlled intersections and modern traffic circles, it
is shown that the potential benefits of traffic circles may warrant their implementation over
stop-controlled intersections. An increased benefit in not only traffic flow, but driver safety
as well, coupled with potential large-scale greenhouse gas emissions savings are also
present with the implementation of traffic circles.