Tax or toll? GPS-based assessment of equity impacts of large-scale electronic freeway tolling in Gauteng, South Africa

As user charging increasingly supplements taxation as a transport financing mechanism worldwide, the need to measure and understand its distributional impacts across affected groups grows more critical. The case of the 185-km Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project in the Johannesburg-Pretoria area of South Africa offers an opportunity to empirically examine the equity impacts of large scale road pricing in middle-income countries. The paper reports on the novel use of GPS data from multiple sources to assess the distribution of benefits and costs of electronic tolling across passenger and freight users. GPS data from commercial truck fleets are combined with multiday GPS tracks from a panel of private vehicle drivers to derive measures of user benefit by class. Compared to an alternative hypothecated fuel tax, electronic tolling is more progressive in terms of both income and vehicle class, as it transfers costs from private to commercial vehicles, in line with the greater pavement damage caused by trucks. Time-of-day discounts favour commercial vehicles, suggesting that the injudicious application of discounts and exemptions can distort rather than enhance equity in road pricing projects.Partially funded by the South African National Roads Agency Ltd. (SANRAL).http://trb.metapress.comcontent/0361-1981hb201

Using multi-source GPS data to characterize multiday driving patterns and fuel use in a large city region

The paper describes the use of GPS data obtained from both commercial and project-specific sources to examine the travel behavior and fuel consumption patterns of drivers over a three-day period in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Data for commercial (truck and light delivery vehicle) traffic are obtained from a commercial fleet management provider, which continuously tracks the movements of 42,000 vehicles. Data for private car users come from a panel of 720 drivers, whose multiday driving activity is tracked using mobile passive GPS loggers. We analyze and compare the driving behavior of the two driver populations in terms of total distance travelled, spatial patterns (e.g. the amount of travel on different road types) and temporal variations (e.g. variations across time of day and across multiple days). The detailed nature of GPS data also permits the estimation of fuel consumption at a very disaggregate level (by link and time of day), and the identification of differences between user groups, which have significant implications for transport and energy policy. We introduce a new indicator, the recovery ratio, to assess the relationship of fuel use to distance travelled on different classes of roads, to help identify equity distortions across user groups. Lastly, we comment on research needs related to the collection and integration of GPS data from multiple sources for model calibration and program evaluation.South African National Roads Agency Ltd. (SANRAL)http://trb.metapress.com/content/0361-1981/hb201

Could dedicated infrastructure boost minibus taxi performance?

Over the last 15 years South Africa has invested heavily in the upgrading of public transport. However, issues such as slow deployment, limited impacts, and financial underperformance of our budding Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems have raised questions about whether we should continue on the current path.https://journals.co.za/journal/civengam2023Civil Engineerin

Cohort Profile: Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics (PACE) Consortium.

Development Psychopathology in context: famil

Evaluering van die hedendaagse beroepsorienteringsteorie en -praktyk

In the main report of the HRCS and its Head Committee entitled "The Provision of Education in the RSA", it is stated that the effective provision of vocational guidance is of extreme importance, and that it has to be provided on a national level. In order to present guidelines for effective vocational orientation, it is necessary to evaluate the existing theory and practice if considerations for possible improvements can become clear. In professor Joubert's inaugural lecture, evaluative criteria of the following nature are inter alia proposed: • Scientific • Educative • Regarding the particular discipline (Vocational orientation) • Educational management • Effective training • Life view considerations The effective training of personnel for vocational orientation and the establishment of vocational guidance centers on a national level are inter alia stated as main priorities.http://explore.up.ac.za/record=b121685

Evaluation of clinical teaching and professional development in a problem and community-based nursing module

In South Africa the main focus is on primary health care. This affects the education and training of nurses, and training schools must respond by developing appropriate teaching modules. A school of nursing developed, implemented and revised a problem- and community- based learning module over a period of three years (1996-1998). This student-centered module focuses on students’ needs, active participation, collaboration, accountability, self-assessment, self-study, life-long learning and appropriate skills. In the formal clinical teaching environment PBL was the main approach. However, this approach was also supported by a variety of strategies, for example group discussions and scenarios. The knowledge, attitudes and professional development skills acquired in the PBL approach were then applied informally in the community setting (CBE). The purpose of the study was to evaluate a first year clinical teaching module as part of an extensive programme. A quantitative research method, a descriptive design, and a variety of data collection techniques were used. Conclusions were that clinical teaching was effective within the problem- (PBL) and community-based (CBE) approaches; 78% of respondents were positive about the clinical learning environment; 61 % stated that expectations were met; 81% preferred group activities, and 67% indicated that they had developed professional skills. Facilitators agreed that clinical teaching met the requirements of PBL & CBE. The pass rate also improved