Findings of learner travel surveys in Cape Town, and the prospects of establishing a longitudinal learner travel database

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. Available data with which to adequately understand learner travel behaviour, and its significance for developing effective plans and strategies to address road safety and traffic congestion problems, is insufficient. This paper reviews the findings of recent learner travel surveys in parts of Cape Town which extend the available data, and enable an improvement of current knowledge of learner travel behaviour and of the prospects of intervening effectively in this segment of the passenger market. These studies take the form of a learner travel survey conducted amongst 14 secondary schools in Mitchells Plain and two other similar, but less extensive, surveys undertaken in Khayelitsha and Blaauwberg, which enable insights into the relationship between socio-economic grouping and travel behaviour. The paper presents a summary of the findings of these surveys, and reflects upon the need for, and prospects of, establishing a longitudinal learner travel database. The paper illustrates a clear relationship between household socio-economic grouping and learner mode use, with walking the dominant mode amongst lower income learners and car travel the dominant mode amongst higher income learners. The most common travel difficulties identified by the learners surveyed include personal safety, travel time and road safety. It is argued that there are benefits to be derived from learners who currently walk long distances switching to cycling, and that the available data suggests that greater potential for switching to cycling exists amongst learners in secondary schools. The benefits of establishing a longitudinal learner travel database, drawn from a variety of sources including census data and past and future ad hoc learner travel surveys, are argued to be improved data quality and validation to better inform the formulation of plans and strategies directed at addressing the travel problems experienced by learners, and an ability to monitor behavioural changes in response to the implementation of these plans and strategies over time.