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South Africa National Event, 12-13 July 2007 In a bid to increase road safety, improve mobility, and enhance transport efficiency, the SIMBA project’s South Africa National Event brought together over 60 European and South African infrastructure operators, vehicle makers, technology providers and ITS stakeholders in Pretoria, South Africa on 12-13 July 2007. Furthering the discussions held at last December’s Priority Workshop in Stellenbosch, the event defined possible future activities to be done in cooperation between the EU and South Africa in the field of road transport research.
Presentations
Day 1: Plenary session
Mr Daryll Thomas, Past President of ITS South Africa, presented the status of ITS in South Africa, adding that growing ITS is not sufficient, but sustainable growth is. He mentioned South Africa’s current ITS projects, which include World Cup 2010 infrastructure and public transport, Gautrain rapid rail link, Johannesburg BRT, E-Natis and SANRAL (Multi-lane free-flow tolling, toll road strategy, overload control, traffic and incident management traffic data and traveller information services). Mr Barlow Manilal of the Automotive Industry Development Centre presented the automotive perspective of South Africa and the strategic challenges facing the industry (customer focus, mass customization, etc.)
Mr Malcolm Mitchell, Executive Director of SARF, outlined the current road infrastructure issues in South Africa, stressing that the primary goal related to transport infrastructure is the effective and efficient delivery of appropriate urban and rural transport infrastructure in South Africa.
Mr James Burgess, TMC Forum Coordinator at ERTICO, presented the TMC Forum and how TMC can be used in new markets as a key technology for broadcast traffic information. He discussed the case study of the DYNASTY project, in which a successful demonstration of TMC was carried out in Beijing, and which could be applicable to demonstration and roll-out in other markets.
Joint Statement:
The second day included more presentations followed by breakout sessions on public transport, traffic monitoring and management & city planning, environment and infrastructure asset management.
Akram Ahmedi, representing FEHRL, presented the organisation’s activities. He named the key themes that have resulted from SIMBA activities, such as road safety, heavy vehicles and roadwear, alternative and recycled construction material, pavement management systems and asset management. He also added that public transport was a good way of maximising road space particularly in SIMBA countries and air cleaning and pollution abatement systems were important.
Alessandro Coda of ACEA/EUCAR presented the EU automotive industry’s priorities for research collaboration with SIMBA countries. The objectives of the cooperation are to increase market entry and penetration for EU OEMS, to exchange technological know-how and to strengthen the competitive position of the EU economy.
Mariana Andrade of ERTICO gave a presentation on European ITS priorities for international cooperation. She noted that the objective of ERTICO’s international cooperation activities are to improve mobility worldwide through the promotion of EU standards and technology. This also means allowing the opportunities for the latest technologies to be available in Emerging Markets as many of the countries concerned are looking for cutting edge technologies. The major priorities of the ITS community for international cooperation have been identified as ITS for Public Transport, Integrated traffic management, Real time traffic information, Incident detection and emergency response and Electronic Toll Collection.
An additional area which is of growing importance is ITS for the environment which is new in Europe, and could be an interesting area for collaboration with SIMBA countries.
Dr Marianne Vandershuren, University of Cape Town, then presented the work being undertaken by the Urban Transport Research Group. It involved ITS modelling for highway corridors (BUS/HOV, variable speed limits, ramp metereing) and public transport corridors. There were some interesting results related to mean target headway, mean reaction time, awareness and aggression.
For public transport, discussions centered on the main issues currently affecting South Africa, such as security and safety, reliability, price, and the large differences between urban and rural areas. In order to progress these issues, it was proposed that activities should start with small demonstration projects.
The session devoted to traffic monitoring and management & city planning touched on how ITS technologies can help the safety of non-motorised transport. In addition, participants discussed issues related to automated law enforcement, ITS training, city planning and TMC.
The environment breakout session noted the challenges facing South Africa, including a current lack of integration at policy, planning and implementation, regulations, and economic limitations. It was noted that both technology and infrastructure choices have implications to the environment. A number of potential projects and initiatives were discussed, including a case study about greening of the inner city. Lessons learnt from the EU could also be applied in South Africa.
Last but not least, the Infrastructure Asset Management session also focused on a number of potential project themes - including infrastructure design, preservation of natural resources, road safety and sustainable technology – which could employ both European and South African expertise.
All of the breakout sessions named key stakeholders, and champions were nominated to organise and promote further actions for the initiatives.
The next steps for SIMBA in South Africa include establishing Working Groups, closer technical meetings, defining actual requirements/feasibility studies in the SIMBA countries and working towards pilots/demonstrations.
Photos from the event
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 Copyright © 2006 | DisclaimerSIMBA is a European Commisssion funded project coordinated by ERTICO |
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