Scientifically rooted regulation will help build a resilient South African transportation system , which can navigate events like climate disasters , major accidents and the recent torching of trucks on major highways .
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New regulation to build more resilient SA transport
Scientifically rooted regulation will help build a resilient South African transportation system , which can navigate events like climate disasters , major accidents and the recent torching of trucks on major highways .
This was the message from South African Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga , in her keynote speech at the opening plenary session of the 41st Southern African Transport Conference ( SATC ).
As Minister of Transport , Chikunga is the patron of the conference , held at the CSIR International Conference Centre in Tshwane , under the theme ‘ Rethinking transportation : Planning and building resilient systems to meet global externalities .’
Referencing the conference theme , Chikunga says that for transport systems to be more resilient , the price of transportation must reflect all of its social costs .
Inadequate economic regulation of transport led to knock-on effects and system imbalances such as traffic congestion , higher fuel consumption , carbon emissions and infrastructure damage , the minister explained . It could also lead to criminal acts such as the recent torching of trucks in KwaZulu-Natal .
Chikunga says the Economic Regulation of Transport Bill currently before parliament was designed to address the problem of “ externalities ” that were not currently regulated in a coherent , centralised manner .
The single transport economic regulator envisaged in the Bill would help ensure an efficient , cost-effective South African transport system , which could meet the country ’ s economic and social goals .
The minister says economic regulation in transport was currently fragmented and inconsistent , and the new regulatory framework aimed to improve this situation . Countries across the world faced similar challenges , such as climate change , globalisation , new technology , and workforce resource issues . They needed to build resilience to manage these challenges , the minister says .
Using the example of an overloaded truck , Chikunga explains how the costs of flouting overloading regulations were not borne by the transport operator , but by broader society : “ The overloaded truck damages the road surface , and risks people ’ s lives . If there is an accident , traffic congestion results , which has economic impacts , forcing hundreds of vehicles to absorb slower arrival times , to consume more fuel , and to generate greater carbon emissions .”
Chikunga says that although these
Supplied by SATC
incidents happened on roads that were important economic arteries , their costs were not covered in transportation prices , nor were these externalities captured when calculating GDP .
It is also necessary , she notes , to update regulation to consider the massive environmental externalities of South Africa ’ s transport sector . She says the country has around 13 million vehicles on the road , and that road transport generated 95.7 % of all transport emissions of greenhouse gases . “ We must therefore have uniform methodologies in measuring emissions and carrying out environmental impact assessments of transport infrastructure development .”
As part of this , Chikunga says the Department was committed to ensuring adequate environmental audit infrastructure , and to supporting a substantial shift from road to rail transport . A single transport economic regulator would help to regulate these processes .
The minister appealed to all SATC delegates to embrace the conference theme of rethinking transport . “ We wish
SATC .
South African Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga addressing SATC .
to work with you , and whatever decisions that we take , will be based on informed , researched information , which must inform externality-specific policies ”. The Southern African Transport Conference ran from 10 to 13 July 2023 . CLA
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