36th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 2017

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/62696

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Solutions to public transport challenges
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Mwanyepedza, R.
South Africa has gone an extra mile as far as the provision of public transport is concerned when comparing it with other Southern African development countries. A large amount of capital expenditure has been channeled to developments in the public transport sector so that South Africans gets affordable, safe and efficient means of transport. Transparency and accountability in state owned organisations is also important because it reduces levels of corruption and unnecessary costs. Additional costs resulting from poor service delivery result in high logistics costs which burden the poor. Considering that the majority of South Africans travel long distances to work especially in towns and cities, it is important to provide passenger trains and buses which are more efficient than private cars so that cost of travelling to work becomes low and it will not constitute a larger proportion of their income. Adapting to current technological changes is important because it makes the department of transport more efficient. The use of technology enables the design of new engines which consume less fuel or use other alternatives. Therefore using technology encourages sustainability and a shift from non-renewable to renewable resources. People living in rural areas are still facing challenges travelling to schools, hospitals and shopping centers. However the provision of community transport in hospitals and schools enables easy mobility of people. Considering South Africa as a case study, this paper provides the state of public transport in South Africa and possible solutions to address the challenges.
Southern African solutions to public transport challenges
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Mtizi, C.
This essay investigates current challenges faced in the Southern African public transport sector and proposes a possible solution to overcome these challenges. Using South Africa and Zimbabwe as case studies, the essay identified shared challenges experienced in both countries for which a universal solution may be adopted. It was found that these challenges could mostly be attributed to government actions. The essay concludes that there is a need for better integration of social outcomes within public transport policy at the strategic tactical and operational levels in Southern Africa. Furthermore, it suggests that technology-driven solutions can be introduced in the public transport realm, amongst other solutions, that entails a universal cashless payment system coupled with GPS technology.
Implications of chronic disease patient travel to healthcare facilities on the design of national health insurance in South Africa a preliminary review
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Mubaiwa, T.; Mokonyama, M.
The South African Human Rights Commission acknowledges that access to healthcare services in South Africa, especially for the poor, is severely constrained by expensive, inadequate or non-existent transport services. This is exacerbated in cases of patients with chronic diseases who require regular travel to healthcare facilities. Therefore, any interventionist programme to improve access to healthcare facilities that does not incorporate transport access requirements reduces the efficacy of such a programme. The paper forms part of a research project aimed at identifying public transport design requirements to support patients with chronic diseases. This paper in particular qualitatively benchmarks the proposed South African National Health Insurance against other similar insurance schemes elsewhere in the world through isolating how the different schemes cover non-emergency patient transport requirements. The paper finds that South Africa’s National Health Insurance is among the many schemes that disregard patient travel requirements. However, subject to further empirical research, the paper identifies options for consideration that could be incorporated in the NHI for chronic patient travel requirements.
Public transportation transfer system problems and solutions
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Su, J.
With the development of economy and urbanization, traffic demand in the city increases rapidly. The public transport system plays an essential role to alleviate the traffic pressure. How to optimize the transfer system is a challenge for the public transport. The problems existing in the current transfer system were analyzed, including the long transfer time, large space occupation of Park&Ride system and rising ticket price. The relevant solutions were studied, including building quick facilities such as the moving walkways and door-to-door transfer system, promoting Bike&Ride transfer system and optimizing fares and transfer price.
Solutions to public transport challenges : emergence of mobile internet and revolution of urban public transport in China
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Wang, P.
Since stepping into the mobile internet era, traditional challenges of public transport have been evolved and resurfaced with new types while the new challenges keep emerging ceaselessly. With the radical change of information dissemination and subsequently thriving mobile internet technologies, the rudimentary contradiction of public transport, the gap between the prosperous individual travel demand and comparative limited transportation infrastructure capacity, is promisingly to be mollified. This paper reviewed the traditional challenges of urban public transport as well as the evolved and emerged challenges in mobile internet era. By introducing four proven mobile internet techniques (or “ecology”), including the E-commerce, express logistic service, O2O commercial mode, sharing economy, and LBS service, the applications in Xi’an city were exemplified to illustrate that how their comprehensively effects can assuage the challenges.
The role of road infrastructure in agricultural production
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Fungo, E.; Krygsman, S.; Nel, H.
Road infrastructure is the backbone of many rural and urban transport systems. Rural transport provides assurance for the supply of the agricultural inputs and facilitates the delivery of the farm outputs to the markets. In rural areas, among other strategies to stimulate agricultural sector development is to improve rural accessibility through the provision of rural road infrastructure and improved transport services. Little is known, however, about the extent of agricultural production improvement following these initiatives. This paper investigates and empirically quantifies the impact of improved rural accessibility on agricultural production of Tanzanian smallholder farmers. Using the Tanzania National Panel Survey (NPS) data of 2012/13, the relationship between transport price, access to the market and crop yield was established. The results show a positive impact on crop yield following the reduction of transport price with an elasticity of -0.291. Farmers who have access to the bigger markets, on average, produce high crop yield. For the development of the agricultural sector, the improvement of rural road infrastructure and transport service should be linked to the roads going to the bigger markets, otherwise, the impact on agricultural sector will be low.
Southern African solutions to public transport challenges
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Mthimkulu, N.
The South African public transport industry is under immense scrutiny as captive users of these systems face unsafe, unreliable and costly systems. In the 21 years of the new dispensation, solutions to public transport challenges in South Africa need to be tackled contextually. The Southern African Transport Conference focuses on such a theme and essentially deliberates the tools needed to solve the incumbent issues that are present. The current challenges illustrate the disconnections that exist in public transport and how they affect all users of the road networks. The current solutions –in their response to the challenges- exemplify the approaches used to resolve public transport systems which are often well considered through the planning and implementation phase but again expose the disconnect that exists. In exploring South African solutions, the essay recommends a holistic approach in attempting to provide adequate, efficient and effective systems. A way to transform these systems to focus on the extreme user and how their implied costs of using public transport can be mitigated.
An assessment of the condition of South Africa s transport fixed infrastructure
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Wall, Kevin; Rust, Frederik Christoffel
The purpose of the “report cards” of the condition of engineering infrastructure in South Africa, the product of cooperation between the CSIR and SAICE, have been to draw the attention of government, and of the public at large, to the importance of maintenance, and to factors underlying the state of repair of infrastructure. The success of these report cards, published in 2006 and 2011, has been such that the CSIR and SAICE are again working together to prepare a new report card, to appear later this year. Of the 10 infrastructure sectors assessed in the previous report cards (and which are again being assessed in the third), no less than four concern public transport fixed infrastructure, viz roads, airports, ports and rail. Whereas completion of the third report card will not take place until mid-2017, the objective of this paper is, after a brief description of the background to and purpose of infrastructure report cards and the process by which the South African report cards are compiled, to discuss key findings of the previous report cards – and also preliminary findings of the current work on the third report card – all with a particular focus on the transport sector.
Southern African solutions to public transport challenges
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Aropet, R.
Transportation is an integral part of the development of any country. Against the backdrop of rapid urbanisation and lack of resources, African countries face an uphill battle to find viable transport solutions to tackle some general and local challenges. In South Africa, there have been considerable investments in transport, and there will continue to be. However, although necessary, most of these investments require enormous amounts of time and money. Certain transport management measures may be used to get the best out of the current infrastructure and systems that are already in place. Several of these measures are investigated in this paper and it was concluded that better transport management can help transportation operate more efficiently and also provide support for future infrastructure.
Integrated and digitalised : enabling mobility solutions in South African cities
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Seboko, S.
Informally run transport is increasingly recognised as an enabler of sustainable urban mobility. This talk will focus on how to harness informally run transport data collection projects to improve mass mobility. Integrating formal and informally run transport data in a single, open platform accelerates the use of digitalised data to improve the final passenger experience. Drawing from our own recent successful collection projects in major South African cities, we will discuss how new tools to benefit citizens, operators, and cities can be powered through such a platform-based approach. These lessons from South Africa will provide audiences with the necessary knowledge to optimise informally run transport within their own cities to foster integrated mobility ecosystems.
Southern African solutions to public transport challenges
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Ambunda, R.
Public transportation is a generic term used to describe the family of transit services available to urban and rural residents. Thus, it is not necessarily a single mode but more often a variety of traditional and innovative services, which should complement each other to provide system-wide mobility. There are three primary modes in the realm of public transportation; mass transit, paratransit and ridesharing (Hangula 2016). Mass transit which is characterized by routes, published schedules, designated networks, and specified stops, assisted by Intelligent Transport Systems- enabled infrastructure, is the proposed solution discussed in this paper. Mass-transit vehicles include buses, light rail or rapid transit, which either share space in mixed traffic or operate on grade-separated rights of way. From the beginning of history, human sensitivity has revealed an urge for mobility, leading to a measure of society's progress. The history of this mobility or transport is the history of civilization. For any country to develop with the right momentum, modern and efficient transport should serve as basic infrastructure. Transport plays a major role in urban development, by providing access for communities to schools, jobs, health care, and other vital services. Especially in developing cities and towns in Southern Africa, enhanced mobility for the needy groups is one of the most important preconditions in improving the standards of living. Cities that have high quality transport systems, which prioritize public transport and non-motorized modes rank at the top with regards to quality of life.
The case for investing in the improvement of the paratransit sector ( in cites of the developing world)
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Mc Lachlan, N.
This paper questions the “official view” that the paratransit sector is inherently part of a vicious cycle and puts an “alternative view” namely that the paratransit sector is an integral part of the urban mobility system and that authorities and public transport users stand to gain significantly from investment in the improvement of the sector. The paper provides an understanding of the generic business logic underpinning paratransit operations and puts forward a series of policy and regulatory shifts and practical business improvement initiatives that can turn the sector from villain to strategically.
National transport master plan (natmap) 2050
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Morapedi, K.; Makhari, M.
The government identified the need to develop a transport master plan for South Africa that is comprehensive, multi modal, integrated, and dynamic, and provides a sustainable framework not only for implementing transport but also for providing infrastructure and service. Most importantly, a Plan seeks to develop continuously and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a multimodal transport system – a transport system that is well regulated and well managed within a multisectoral sphere of effective coordination within and cooperation between various government spheres, relevant private sectors, civil society partners and stakeholders up to 2050. The Plan was approved by Cabinet on the 19 October 2016.
Influence of smart mobile travel apps enabled taxis on local urban road transportation systems in developing countries
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Das, D.; Ngobeni, T.
Innovation and technology are critical to reinforce sustainability in road transportation. In recent years’ smart technologies such as ‘Smart Mobile Travel Apps’ are influencing mobility particularly in cities. For example, ‘smart mobile Apps’ enabled ride shares and taxi services have become significant components in cities. However, while they are offering new opportunities in the urban mobility system, they are also bringing in certain sustainability and functional challenges. Therefore, using the case studies of ride share and taxi services provided by use of such ‘Smart Mobile Travel Apps’ in two cities - Cape Town in South Africa and Kolkata in India, this study examined the acceptability and availability of Smart Mobile Travel App enabled taxis and the challenges faced by these taxi services in cities of developing countries. An inductive and explorative survey research method was used for this study. Findings suggest that ‘Smart Mobile Travel Apps’ enabled ride shares and taxi services are highly acceptable and available to people for local accessibility in cities, although the cost of travel varies. However, there are challenges with regards to internet connectivity and its reliability and skill to use these Apps. Furthermore, there is a need for free internet connectivity hot spots in different parts of the cities for smooth operation and improved accessibility of these taxis.
Towards the ideal roundabout design
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Van Renssen, F.H.; Watters, M.; Tichauer, C.R.; Krogscheepers, C.; Matthee, G.
In South Africa, the use of the modern roundabout as an alternative form of intersection control is gaining popularity with road authorities and developers. The Western Cape Government: Department of Roads and Public Works (WCG: DoT) has engaged in an investigation and drafting of a Roundabout document. This document is divided into three volumes, where Volume 1 presents an evaluation of international standards and best practice, including their research done, as well as information and some statistics regarding 37 roundabouts evaluated in the Western Cape. Volume 2 provides a planning document for determining the appropriateness of a roundabout as an alternative form of intersection control, and Principles and Requirements for such an intersection. Volume 3 will follow, which will be a design guidelines for the design of modern roundabouts in the Western Cape, and hopefully the rest of South Africa. The purpose of this paper is to provide you with an insight in the proposed requirements for the design and evaluation of roundabouts in the Western Cape. This is called Principles and Requirements. All of these elements considered are focused at the provision of a safe and consistent design. The goal, beyond this paper, is to provide a tool for evaluation of a roundabout as alternative form of intersection control, as well as a set of design guidelines that can be used not only in the Western Cape, but also in the rest of South Africa. It will hopefully lead to more consistent and safe designs, and road users becoming used to roundabout standards.
Traffic flow variations in urban areas
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Sampson, J.
At the 1983 Annual Transport Convention (ATC, now called SATC), the author presented a paper with the same title as the one above. The paper provided typical hourly, daily, weekly and annual traffic count patterns in urban areas. Over the following 34 years the author has maintained records of traffic counts taken and has monitored and compared the typical variations with those produced in the original paper. It would appear from these that the underlying traffic flow patterns have remained much the same. In this paper the opportunity has been taken to completely revise and update the 1983 figures using a selection of urban freeway and arterial locations from the 2015 SANRAL Comprehensive Traffic Observations (CTO).
Trip generation and parking demand of suburban mosques in the greater Cape Town, Western Cape
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Salasa, A.; Roodt, Louis de V.
Research was done to determine the trip generation and parking demand of mosques in the greater Cape Town area of the Western Cape. The research focused on mosques in suburban environments. The mosques are split into two categories: mosques that are designated to host the congregational Friday midday prayer in addition to the daily prayers and mosques that only host the daily prayers. Surveys were conducted at such mosques and relationships between the number of vehicles generated and parked at the mosques and the characteristics of the mosques and their surrounding areas were determined. A resulting trip generation rate and parking demand rate were determined for the mosques. For mosques that host the Friday midday prayer, the peak hour occurred between 12:45 and 13:45 on a Friday. The vehicle trip generation rates were found to be 1.1 per Muslim household outside of walking distance to the mosque, 0.40 per prayer space available inside the mosque, 55 trips per 100 square meters of prayer floor space inside the mosque and 0.42 trips per worshipper inside the mosque. For mosques that do not host the Friday midday prayer, the peak trip generation occurred in the Saturday evening. The vehicle trip generation rates were found to be 0.06 per prayer space available inside the mosque and 8.6 per 100 square meters of prayer floor space inside the mosque. The parking demand was found to be equal to the trip generation rates of the mosques as the typical vehicle occupation was one person and nearly all worshippers travelled by vehicle in these suburban settings. The results contribute to the understanding of the traffic characteristics of mosques, but should not be applied to other metropolitan areas without taking into consideration local travel demand and mode choice characteristics.
Application of user preference choice models in the city of Johannesburg demand model
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Roux, E.; Lamprecht, T.
Transport models and choice models are often developed in isolation without the benefit of combining it into a single dynamic model. This paper aims to demonstrate that, based on the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Model, choice models developed from stated preference surveys can be even more valuable when designed to be incorporated into a transport model. This paper describes how the choice models, developed from the stated preference data, supported with reveal preference data from the Household Travel Surveys, was applied in the CoJ Model. The mode choice model includes the intrinsic characteristic of city travellers which are either captive to public transport, mainly due to affordability, or to private transport, mainly due to lifestyle perceptions. An iterative procedure is used whereby mode-specific performance statistics on in-vehicle travel time, walking time, waiting time, travel cost, number of transfers and seat availability from the spatially represent transport model is used to calculate modal splits which can be assigned to the transport network. The transport model allows for the following modes; namely private vehicles, taxis, buses, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) buses, rail (Metrorail) and Gautrain. The paper shows outputs from hypothetical scenarios based on road tolls, fuel price, BRT headways, and rail improvements to demonstrate the sensitivity in modal shift.
Trip generation rates for retirement homes and villages in South Africa
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Roux, J.; Bruwer, M.
The development of land serves to fulfil certain needs, resulting in traffic generation. An assessment of the traffic which is expected to be generated by a newly proposed development is required to mitigate the effect of this new traffic and improve the operational condition of road network. Development generated trips are most commonly estimated by using trip generation rates. These trip generation rates vary with development specific land-use characteristics. This paper considers the appropriate estimation of land use specific trip generation rates for South African retirement facilities. The study aims to determine whether a unique set of trip generation indicators are needed for retirement facilities, or whether existing residential trip generation rates can be used. Traffic observations were conducted at 10 retirement facilities in South Africa. Trip generation at retirement facilities was found to vary significantly from other residential land uses. The majority of trips generated by residential areas leave the area during the morning peak hour, returning in during the afternoon peak hour, however, since retired people are not leaving their residence to attend work, a unique patter of trips is created, requiring a unique set of trip generation rates. Trips generated at various retirement facilities also showed significant variation. This led to the partition of retirement facilities into two categories, namely retirement homes and retirement villages. Retirement homes are classified as residential facilities with assisted living services and attached housing units. Retirement villages have primarily detached housing units but may incorporate assisted living facilities. Trip generation rates were calculated for vehicles and pedestrians during all peak periods at retirement homes and villages.
Incident analysis using probe data
(Southern African Transport Conference, 2017) Olivier, W.; Andersen, S.; Bruwer, M.
A methodology is presented for estimating the area of influence of two similar non-recurrent congestion events in two of South Africa’s metros, Tshwane and Cape Town, by use of probe data. Congestion in South Africa’s big cities on most of the major highways is a very common phenomenon to any regular traveller and has a substantial economic impact due to lost time while in traffic. The proposed method utilizes historic TomTom probe data to determine the effect of a stationary truck on a major arterial during Monday morning peak hour traffic, in which some lanes are closed to traffic. The impact on the corridor and the immediate road network is presented both graphically as well as mathematically in terms of average travel time, average speed and delay. Historic probe data on the day of the incident is compared to 20 weeks’ data prior to the incident. The methodology is applicable to similar incidents in which no fatalities or serious injuries were sustained and standard incident clearance procedures were followed. A Custom Area Analysis and Custom Travel Time analysis were conducted to obtain historic data on the day of the incident and typical traffic days for comparison. The results demonstrated this methodology’s ability to represent the true state of traffic on a specified route during and after an incident, provided that there are enough probes on the route for the time sets investigated. Probe data provides reliable data that will benefit various entities to address their specific requirements, whether they be road authorities, emergency services, law enforcement, or the ordinary citizens.

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