Sustainable non-motorised transport comparing South Africa and the Netherlands

Abstract

Paper presented at the 28th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 6 - 9 July 2009 "Sustainable Transport", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.

Governments are beginning to realise the importance of non-motorised transportation as part of the overall transport network. They have identified omissions in their respective transport systems and plan to rectify accordingly. SSI, together with their Dutch partner DHV, has developed a systematic, easy-to-implement approach to develop sustainable NMT networks. This paper describes the approach, based on successful Dutch and South African experiences. The approach consists of the following steps: 1. Identify and profile target user group needs in terms of requirements and constraints. 2. Understand the area in terms of demographic, spatial and geographical layout, origins and destinations, weather conditions, etc. 3. Develop a desired NMT network linking the information identified above. 4. Develop a sustainable network by optimally fusing the desired and existing networks. This paper discusses NMT networks and compares South African conditions with experience in The Netherlands where NMT is a successful means of safe transportation. The intention is to highlight the differences in conditions, success factors, as well as adaptability of this approach towards the creation of sustainable NMT systems in South Africa. This paper concludes that South Africa has many opportunities to improve facilities for NMT. The following three are expected to be the most meaningful during the planning stages for the implementation of NMT: During new development planning. Incorporation in rehabilitation projects in identifying NMT networks. The challenges are there and the approach that has been developed can be used as a guideline.