City adopts freight plan

Strategy is to lessen the impact of trucks on congestion, infrastructure, safety

THE CITY council has adopted a freight transport strategy to minimise the impact large vehicles and overloading have on the infrastructure of the roads, traffic congestion and road safety. The city council spends about R1 billion every year on road maintenance.

Key to the strategy is a shift from road to rail freight with city council-owned rail sidings to be assessed to increase their use.

The city council wants to increase the use of rail for the transport of waste from Athlone and other waste disposal sites.

The freight strategy also proposes actions to reduce carbon emissions, congestion and road accidents, while also promoting off-peak or night-time deliveries and operations.

“What is very clear is that rail must be part of the plan and that we will have to implement innovative solutions to preserve our road network and reduce the overall cost of doing business in Cape Town,” said Mayco member for transport Brett Herron.

He said the local and regional economy was reliant on the road-based transport of cargo to and from the port, airport and between cities and towns.

Last year, an assessment conducted by the city council’s transport authority, Transport for Cape Town (TCT), revealed there was significant growth in road-based freight on the city’s major roads – N1, N2 and N7 – due to growth in the movement of consumer goods worldwide.

About 20 percent of vehicles on the N1 are heavy vehicles. Rail’s share of freight had dramatically declined.

The city’s port plans to triple its container handling services over the next 20 years.

Overloading was also leading to the premature deterioration of the roads, with research estimating that it causes up to 60 percent of all road damage.

“As much as the city (council) is responsible for the provision of an efficient and reliable road network, we cannot ignore the impact of road-based freight on Cape Town’s roads and the urban environment,” said Herron.

TCT aims to test weigh-in-motion technology at key locations in the city, even though current legislation only allows prosecution with fixed scales.

The city council says because existing weighbridge network consists mainly of fixed weighbridges outside of the city, they are not effective in controlling overloading because they are easily bypassed by using alternative routes and are only staffed during the day.

An alternative route map for abnormally heavy loads is also being proposed to circulate to major freighters. FRIDAY AUGUST 26 2016

Herron said the city council needed to improve the location of main logistics centres, warehousing, depots and distribution centres so that freight operators could reduce the number of trips needed.

It is estimated that transport is responsible for 63 percent of the total energy consumption in Cape Town including private vehicles, passenger transport, international marine and aviation fuel – contributing substantially to local air pollution.

The city council’s strategy proposes a detailed study on emissions from freight vehicles and penalties for non-compliance with emissions standards.

TCT has noted the uncontrolled movement of dangerous goods and hazardous materials.