Stuck in traffic

WHY SA, WHY NOW?

Transport Minister Jeff Radebe has remarked that it`s ironic that SA is faced with ever-increasing traffic congestion owing to no other reason than the high level of economic growth.

"One of the characteristics of an emerging economy, such as South Africa, is the rapid evolution of private vehicle ownership. Take South Korea, for example, which during the late `70s and `80s saw a tenfold increase in vehicle ownership," says Douglas Davey, president of the South African Society for Intelligent Transport Systems, and CEO of Traffic Management Technologies.

South Africa`s vehicle population, including trucks, grew nearly 25% from 2004 to 2005. According to the country`s only National Household Travel Survey, conducted in 2003, only seven million South Africans use private cars, while 38 million citizens live in households with no access to a car. As a result of inadequate public transport, it`s probably fair to say that road users are in for even tougher times when it comes to traffic congestion.

There has, however, been a surge of interest in intelligent transport systems (ITS) worldwide as a result of growing traffic congestion due to increasing industrialisation, urbanisation and the population explosion. Coinciding with this is the emergence of new enabling information technologies for real-time control and communications, such as GPS and cellphone technologies, and the general improvement in their cost and performance, notes Davey.

ITS technologies range from basic management systems such as car navigation, traffic light control systems, variable message signs or speed cameras to monitoring applications such as security CCTV systems, and then to more advanced applications that integrate live data and feedback from a number of other sources, such as weather information.

Basic traffic control systems have been at work on South African roads since the 1990s. Cape Town, for example, rolled out a third-generation traffic control system in 1994, which linked 700 traffic signals via a roadside traffic controller and copper lines to a central computer. The system, which measured the traffic flow approaching traffic signals, was so effective that in one particular intersection, it managed to reduce the traffic queue from 13 km to 700 m, recalls Davey. Other cities, such as Port Elizabeth and Durban, developed similar systems. "Since then, there has been a strong movement towards countrywide freeway management systems which incorporate incident management facilities," he points out.

I-TRAFFIC AT HOME

While it hasn`t been possible to even guesstimate government spending on ITS nationwide, Priya Pillay, communications manager of the South African National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral), explains that the annual budget received from National Treasury to finance non-toll roads - national, provincial and local levels - is allocated on a project-by-project basis. "Most of the budget is allocated to roads infrastructure as this is Sanral`s core business while only a small portion is allocated to technology," she says.

Sanral is an independent statutory body answerable to the Minister of Transport, and is responsible for building and maintaining the national road network.

Pillay points out that traffic management is generally the responsibility of the Traffic Department; Sanral only manages traffic at toll roads. "Technology and the specific type thereof are applied at the discretion of the user, that is national, provincial and local spheres of government," she adds.

Davey observes that, unlike most major nations, SA`s national Transport Department doesn`t have a consolidated ITS strategy.

EARLY SUCCESSES

One of SA`s most high-profile ITS projects to date, which Sanral is also involved in, has been the R51 million i-traffic project to ease congestion on one of the busiest stretches of road in the southern hemisphere, the Ben Schoeman highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The i-traffic system is made up of 90 cameras, 19 overhead variable message-boards and electronic pads in the road, stretching from the John Vorster offramp to the Buccleuch interchange. A network monitoring centre then gathers the real-time information on road conditions, and transmits it to the 160 000 daily road users, traffic authorities and emergency services so that they can respond to any incident appropriately.

The project also provides for the use of the shoulder lanes in both directions when traffic is congested. Motorists are kept informed of the status of the lanes by overhead signs - a green arrow signalling they are open or a red cross when closed.

Alex van Niekerk, Sanral`s toll and traffic manager for its northern region, has indicated that future plans for the system include the use of ramp metering. This will allow for vehicles accessing the freeway from onramps to be controlled using a traffic signal alternating between red and green, to break the vehicles up in platoons, so as to maintain flow conditions on the freeway.

The success of the i-traffic project has been such, he has been quoted as saying, that it will soon be extended to other freeways in Gauteng. In September, Sanral awarded contracts for the extension of the ITS along the N1 past Tshwane, the N4 towards Witbank, the N1 down to the N12 at Soweto, the N12 to the south of Johannesburg, as well as between Gillooly`s and Daveyton, the N17 between the N3 and Dalpark, and the N3 from Buccleuch to Vosloorus. The JRA will also be extending the ITS on Johannesburg freeways along the M2 to the Geldenhuys interchange, and the M1 towards the N12, according to media reports.

Sanral hopes to have the entire Gauteng on board the i-traffic project by January 2008, Van Niekerk indicated.

Cape Town and Durban are also in the process of implementing their own ITS networks. Traffic surveillance and monitoring systems are already in place in these two cities, and in the Huguenot tunnel.

INTELLIGENT PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Staying with Gauteng, but moving on to public transport, one of the arguments put forward by the Gautrain builders for the rapid rail system that will link Pretoria, Johannesburg and the OR Tambo International Airport is that about R933 million disappears every year as commuters lose work hours owing to congestion on the Ben Schoeman highway. The now-R20-billion Gautrain plans to serve 300 000 passenger trips per day. The delays (the first leg of the project - Sandton to the airport - will only be operational in 2010) and spiralling costs aside, the rail project will also boast a fair amount of ITS, including a multi-modal integrated ticketing system, more than 1 200 CCTV cameras and a traffic management system for the feeder systems. Another major local project is the Western Cape`s restructuring of its public transport systems. The tender is out for the project, which will be focusing on electronic fare collection with an integrated ticketing system and ITS transit related systems, which encompass route monitoring, fleet management and passenger information, particularly in the run-up to the 2010 World Cup.

GEARING UP FOR THE WORLD CUP

This event will without question prove to be SA`s biggest transport challenge yet. The country is expecting some 350 000 to 500 000 visitors, and between travelling to the match venues and their accommodation, this will create a demand for passenger travel the likes of which we have never experienced.

Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced in October that government would spend R8,4-billion on the construction and upgrading of stadiums and the development of the surrounding precincts. A further R6,7-billion is allocated to host cities to help improve public transport.

Davey suggests this may not be enough. He cites Korea and Japan, hosts of the 2002 World Cup, which spent $3 billion on stadiums, and $12 billion on transport infrastructure back then.

And he cautions that, while the use of technology to manage traffic, and improve transport safety and efficiency holds much promise, it is only that - a promise.

"All that technology provides is a tool for road operators to better manage traffic, but it is how you use that tool is the issue," he says.

He recalls the installation of a R2 million CCTV and variable message sign system on Johannesburg`s M2 in 1998. "After two years of mismanagement, the project was defunct, and without ever having provided a shred of sensible information to the user," Davey notes.

"Technology provides an opportunity, but how it`s configured and used is the challenge."