From red to green, green to amber, and back to red: A critque of South African layout planning

A document providing layout planning and engineering service guidelines, which has become known as the “red book”, was recently prepared by the CSIR and issued by the Department of National Housing. The guidelines in the “red book” relating to layout planning are based upon: (1) errone­ous assumptions around levels of car ownership, fiscal resources, the antici­pation of road functions and the func­tional linkages of households, (2) a narrow set of concerns around motor car access, pedestrian safety and the creation of spatially defined communi­ties, and (3) inappropriate layout planning concepts in the form of neighbourhood cells, functional road hierarchies and closed road geome­tries. The current South African con­text necessitates a reformulation of these guidelines. As the metaphorical title of the paper suggests, the “red book” has not changed considerably from its preceding “blue” and “green” books, and concerns relating to traffic remain paramount. There is a need for layout planning guidelines which prioritise place making, public trans­port and pedestrian access, the inte­gration of urban environments, the facilitation of economic opportunity, and a more collective and systemic approach to facility and service provi­sion

Collection of passenger travel data in Sub-Saharan African cities: Towards improving survey instruments and procedures

This paper compares experiences in the application of different approaches to passenger travel data collection in francophone and anglophone cities of West, Central and Southern Africa. Its aim is to identify possible improvements through which common problems might be addressed. The paper draws from the available French and English literature on survey methods applied in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as from the authors' experiences in designing and administering surveys in this context. Problems are discussed in terms of survey design and administration. Recommendations to address these problems relate to survey preparation, comparative instrument and cognitive testing, hierarchical multi-modal methods, interviewer selection and training methods, and survey administration and monitoring.African cities ; Passenger travel surveys ; Household surveys ; Methods

Kulturindustrie

Beschränkte sich die Kritik der Kulturindustrie, die Adorno und Horkheimer in ihrer Gemeinschaftsarbeit »Dialektik der Aufklärung« entwickelt haben, darauf, dass sie bloß den Kommerz und Ausverkauf der Kultur monierten? Und erklärten sie die Massen für zu dumm, das Unterhaltungsangebot als stumpfsinnigen Betrug zu durchschauen? Entgegen dieser gängigen Lesart der Kulturindustriethese interpretiert Roger Behrens den Begriff als zentrale Kategorie einer kritischen Theorie der Gesellschaft. Die Kritik der Kulturindustrie bewahrt ihre Aktualität angesichts der neueren Entwicklung - Stichwort »Popkultur« - als radikale Diagnose einer von der ökonomischen Verwertungslogik bestimmten Gesellschaft. Die kritische Theorie der Kulturindustrie konstatiert, dass von der Kulturindustrie durchaus mehr Befriedigung und Glück erwartet werden darf, als heute dem Publikum vermittelt wird. Das Publikum ist keineswegs zu dumm, um sich mit den angebotenen Kulturwaren zu bescheiden, sondern verfügt über genügend Phantasie, sich eine bessere Welt vorzustellen, die freilich mehr menschliches Glück garantiert als die durch das abstrakte Profitmotiv vermittelte Ideologie der Kulturindustrie. - Nicht die Kultur gilt es abzuschaffen, sondern die Gesellschaft selbst muss verändert werden, um das Recht der Menschen auf gute Unterhaltung zu gewährleisten

Kulturindustrie

Beschränkte sich die Kritik der Kulturindustrie, die Adorno und Horkheimer in ihrer Gemeinschaftsarbeit "Dialektik der Aufklärung" entwickelt haben, darauf, dass sie bloß den Kommerz und Ausverkauf der Kultur monierten? Und erklärten sie die Massen für zu dumm, das Unterhaltungsangebot als stumpfsinnigen Betrug zu durchschauen? Entgegen dieser gängigen Lesart der Kulturindustriethese interpretiert Roger Behrens den Begriff als zentrale Kategorie einer kritischen Theorie der Gesellschaft. Die Kritik der Kulturindustrie bewahrt ihre Aktualität angesichts der neueren Entwicklung - Stichwort "Popkultur" - als radikale Diagnose einer von der ökonomischen Verwertungslogik bestimmten Gesellschaft. Die kritische Theorie der Kulturindustrie konstatiert, dass von der Kulturindustrie durchaus mehr Befriedigung und Glück erwartet werden darf, als heute dem Publikum vermittelt wird. Das Publikum ist keineswegs zu dumm, um sich mit den angebotenen Kulturwaren zu bescheiden, sondern verfügt über genügend Phantasie, sich eine bessere Welt vorzustellen, die freilich mehr menschliches Glück garantiert als die durch das abstrakte Profitmotiv vermittelte Ideologie der Kulturindustrie. - Nicht die Kultur gilt es abzuschaffen, sondern die Gesellschaft selbst muss verändert werden, um das Recht der Menschen auf gute Unterhaltung zu gewährleisten

Kulturindustrie

Beschränkte sich die Kritik der Kulturindustrie, die Adorno und Horkheimer in ihrer Gemeinschaftsarbeit »Dialektik der Aufklärung« entwickelt haben, darauf, dass sie bloß den Kommerz und Ausverkauf der Kultur monierten? Und erklärten sie die Massen für zu dumm, das Unterhaltungsangebot als stumpfsinnigen Betrug zu durchschauen? Entgegen dieser gängigen Lesart der Kulturindustriethese interpretiert Roger Behrens den Begriff als zentrale Kategorie einer kritischen Theorie der Gesellschaft. Die Kritik der Kulturindustrie bewahrt ihre Aktualität angesichts der neueren Entwicklung - Stichwort »Popkultur« - als radikale Diagnose einer von der ökonomischen Verwertungslogik bestimmten Gesellschaft. Die kritische Theorie der Kulturindustrie konstatiert, dass von der Kulturindustrie durchaus mehr Befriedigung und Glück erwartet werden darf, als heute dem Publikum vermittelt wird. Das Publikum ist keineswegs zu dumm, um sich mit den angebotenen Kulturwaren zu bescheiden, sondern verfügt über genügend Phantasie, sich eine bessere Welt vorzustellen, die freilich mehr menschliches Glück garantiert als die durch das abstrakte Profitmotiv vermittelte Ideologie der Kulturindustrie. - Nicht die Kultur gilt es abzuschaffen, sondern die Gesellschaft selbst muss verändert werden, um das Recht der Menschen auf gute Unterhaltung zu gewährleisten

Travel behaviour change theories and experiments: a review and synthesis

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.Travel Demand Management (TDM) strategies aim at changing the behaviour of travellers in order to reduce the demand for single occupancy car travel, and to redistribute car users to public and non-motorised modes. The success or failure of TDM strategies – measured by change in vehicle kilometres travelled or modal share – depends upon a robust understanding of what causes travellers to change patterns of behaviour. Many theories have been employed across a range of disciplines to explain behaviour change. A variety of travel behaviour change experiments have been conducted over the previous decade – based either explicitly or implicitly on particular theoretical frameworks – in order to observe the effect of TDM measures and test the veracity of theories. These experiments have typically employed before-and-after survey and control-and-experiment group techniques in measuring behavioural change. This paper reviews, categorises and synthesises theories concerning behaviour change, and the behaviour change experiments that have been conducted. The paper concludes with discussion on the link between theories and experiments, and future research plans.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201

Evaluation of a 'Walking bus' demonstration project in Cape Town: qualitative findings, implications and recommendations

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.This paper reports upon an evaluation of a project demonstrating ‘walking buses’ at selected schools in a higher income neighbourhood of Cape Town (Rondebosch). A qualitative ‘after’ survey of (n=16) learners and (n=14) parents was undertaken in order to evaluate the impacts of the initiative. Key findings are discussed in terms of learner travel behaviour prior to, and after, the setting up of ‘walking buses’, and insights into the impacts of ‘walking buses’. The findings suggest that while scheduled ‘walking buses’ may be established with considerable levels of support and enthusiasm from parents and schools, they are difficult to sustain over the longer term. The ‘after’ qualitative interviews indicated that both parents and learners found the ‘walking bus’ experience beneficial, but that the organisational burden of an inflexible, scheduled system was too great. Despite not enduring over the long term, the ‘walking buses’ did however result in some longer term behavioural changes. The majority of participants interviewed in the ‘after’ survey, continued to walk to school independently, whereas previously they were driven to school by car. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the findings for municipalities and schools wishing to promote greater use of walking, and with recommendations on how ‘walking buses’ might be made more sustainable.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201

Planned and paratransit service integration through trunk and feeder arrangements: an international review

Paper presented at the 31st Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9-12 July 2012 "Getting Southern Africa to Work", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.This paper explores the management of ‘hybrid’ public transport systems comprised of both ‘planned’ and ‘paratransit’ services. Three categories of such hybrid systems can be identified: (1) cities with the least recognition of the role of ‘paratransit’ services in their public transport system transformation process; (2) cities with the greatest recognition of the role of ‘paratransit’ services; and (3) cities that modified an initial plan in order to give a more important role to paratransit than originally conceived. The latter category of hybridity is of potential interest to South African cities with respect to how the interface between planned and paratransit services might be managed. Of a set of alternative regulatory approaches that have been applied in cities that fall into this category (including, separate roads, connecting corridors, shared corridors, peak-lopping and trunk and feeder approaches), trunk and feeder arrangements are explored further in this paper. Three approaches to planned-paratransit service integration through trunk and feeder arrangements are reviewed: (1) reward schemes; (2) feeder area licencing; and (3) concessioning. The experiences and outcomes of cities that have implemented these approaches are investigated. The paper concludes with a discussion on future research requirements to explore potential relevance to the South African context.This paper was transferred from the original CD ROM created for this conference. The material was published using Adobe Acrobat 10.1.0 Technology. The original CD ROM was produced by Document Transformation Technologies Postal Address: PO Box 560 Irene 0062 South Africa. Tel.: +27 12 667 2074 Fax: +27 12 667 2766 E-mail: nigel@doctech URL: http://www.doctech.co.zadm201

Informal and shared mobility: A bibliometric analysis and researcher network mapping

This study was commissioned by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations to inform the content of the next phase of its Future Urban Transport programme. The aim of the study was to define the subject field (provisionally described by VREF as ‘informal public transport’ and ‘shared mobility’), analyse its bibliometric attributes. The study method involved an analysis of the nomenclature and focus of seminal or consolidating in-field literature to delineate the scope of the study, a systematic search of multiple platforms for in-field English language publications between 2010 and the present, the creation and augmentation of a database for bibliometric analysis, and a survey of leading researchers across eight global regions. The subject field was divided into four main categories of passenger services (flexible transport, informal transport, shared mobility and for-hire transport), which sit between purely private transport and scheduled mass public transport, and can be found in various guises across the Global North and Global South. The timeline of innovation in the field reveals complex and multi-directional global diffusion of service innovations, triggered by changed operating environments and technology disruption. It was found that research in this field is growing fast (doubling every four years). The recent literature is dominated by authors affiliated to universities in Europe, Eastern Asia and Northern America at a regional scale, and to universities in China and the United States at a country scale. Shared mobility (and bike-sharing, car-sharing and ride hailing in particular) has received most attention (62%), followed by for-hire transport (17%), informal transport (11%), and flexible transport (10%). Most publications concerning shared mobility and for-hire transport were produced by lead authors in China (19,3% and 44,1%), followed by the United States (15,0% and 9,9%). Most publications concerning informal transport were produced in South Africa (18,2%) followed by India (9,8%), and concerning flexible transport were produced in the United States (13,1%) followed by Australia (9,6%). There has been extensive international research collaboration, with collaboration between research institutions in China and the United States found to be particularly strong, as was collaboration between China and other East Asian countries. Somewhat paradoxically, while the quantity of collaborations with universities in Africa, Latin America, and Western Asia was relatively small, authors from many countries within these regions are most likely to publish through international collaboration. Citation networks between institutions followed a similar pattern to collaboration networks. Geographical gaps in the literature were found, with heatmaps revealing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, that received no dedicated research attention. While difficult to quantify, there were also indications of thematic gaps in the literature, or at least disparity between the prevalence of a service type and the number of publications about it. Most notably, compared to their global prevalence, bike-sharing, car-sharing and carpooling were well researched, compared to informal for-hire transport and informal public transport, which received significantly less attention. Given the multi-directional innovation diffusion in the subject field, and the disparity of research capacity and output across regions, it is a field of inquiry that presents rich possibilities for global research collaboration in the next phase of the FUT programme. The survey of leading researchers suggested that: integrating with mass public transport services; serving the needs of vulnerable passengers; regulating service providers; introducing electric vehicles into shared mobility and informal transport fleets; and digitalising aspects of informal transport operations; are priority future research needs