Improvement of traffic management along transport corridors in the SADC region : the Beira Corridor as a case study

Abstract

Paper presented at the 23rd Annual Southern African Transport Conference 12 - 15 July 2004 "Getting recognition for the importance of transport", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. Various operational constraints have been experienced along the major SADC road links, with an ultimate negative impact on the economy. For instance, deaths, injuries and damage to infrastructure and motor vehicles resulting from road accidents are costing between 2 and 3 percent of GDP in countries such as Malawi. In addition, HIV/AIDS is changing the size and composition of the work force, as skilled and experienced, but young work force is prematurely falling sick and dying from AIDS. Also, delays at the SADC borders due to inefficient customs and immigration formalities are costing approximately US$ 50 million a year in additional transport costs and reduction in the capacity of the existing transport fleet. Having recognized these operational constraints, SADC has embarked on an integrated pilot project in the Beira Corridor, with the following major components: Improvement of Traffic Safety; Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS; and Facilitation of Cross Border Traffic. Each of the three components will terminate with a regional workshop, where the experience learned with the respective implementation would be shared and the way forward drawn. The implementation of the project has proved to be a widely supported initiative by both the transport operators and the local communities. A corridor performance monitoring system could be considered to facilitate the assessment of the project related activities and the overall operational trends along the Beira Corridor. This paper brings in some of the key issues in traffic management in the transport corridors, while exploring the experience of the activities carried out in the Beira Corridor to address the same. To this end, the first section presents a brief description of the Beira Corridor and the problems that prompted the project design. The second part gives the project rationale and the respective components, while the third part analyses the implementation process. The paper ends with a brief overview on the way ahead.