Developing a scorecard for sustainable transport : a Cape Town application
Date
2009-03
Authors
Du Toit, Rudolph
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
Abstract
Globally, transport and its associated ills are creating urban landscapes that can best
be described as unhealthy, unfriendly and unsustainable. The unsustainable nature of
current transportation practices are most keenly displayed in four key areas, namely:
the pending oil peak; global climate change; environmental degradation and social
deprivation. South Africa is no exception to these impacts, but also suffers an extra
disadvantage of demonstrating very little knowledge of more sustainable
transportation option in terms of its planning regime.
This study endeavours to improve the state of sustainability in transportation planning
by developing a user-friendly and pragmatic transportation sustainability appraisal
mechanism and testing this mechanism on a real-life case. In order to develop such an
appraisal mechanism, the theory of sustainable development is firstly examined to
provide direction to the study, followed by an attempt to distil the most pertinent
principles of sustainable transport from the literature. These principles form the
objectives which the appraisal mechanism aims to measure sustainability against.
Owing to the poor level of awareness regarding sustainable transport practices in
South Africa, a discussion on selected benchmark sustainable transport practices is
also included in the study and consequently added to the appraisal mechanism. To test
its operability, the appraisal mechanism is finally applied to Cape Town’s Draft
Integrated Transport Plan (ITP) 2006-2011.
The study indicates that the ITP is a reasonably sustainable transport plan, with the
exception of its affordability and public participation aspects. These exceptions are attributed to the ITP either not properly addressing these aspects, or due to the ITP not
providing enough information on these aspects. Finally, the study found that the
developed appraisal mechanism is operable in the field of transportation planning, but
suggests that the mechanism be further developed and refined to improve its value and
effectiveness. A transdisciplinary process involving the input of community
stakeholders and specialists is identified as major area for such development
Description
Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
Keywords
Sustainable transport, Integrated Transport Plan, Dissertations -- Public management and planning, Theses -- Public management and planning