Distracted by shiny objects
Let’s get one thing clear from the start—I would make a terrible commercial truck driver. I’m not very good at remembering driving directions, I barely have the attention span to operate my web browser, and my spatial awareness is maxed out whenever I need to do a three-point turn in our six-year-old family SUV, never mind adding a hinged trailer to the rear bumper.
So when that same SUV was in the shop last month to repair a dented fender (I told you I was a barely competent driver), I was thrilled when our rental car turned out to be a 2021-model-year crossover sedan with all the latest bells and whistles. This thing was loaded with features like a full-color display screen for the backup camera, an overlay on that screen that predicted where your car was headed as you turned the wheel, and a setting that turns down the radio volume when you shift the transmission into reverse.
In theory, those high-tech options should have been just the thing for correcting my ....
Other Transport News
Cape Town progresses infrastructure development projects
The City of Cape Town (CoCT) has actually completed the construction of 2 new MyCiTi bus depots on the corner of Spine road and Mew method in between Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain and is progressing with its Edward Avenue housing project in the Grassy Park location of Ottery. The two MyCiTi 7.5-ha depots– which are equipped with automated bus cleaners, mechanical workshops, office space, refuelling centers, and underground electric bus charging centers– will both have the ability to store 145 buses that will take a trip the south-east route growth.
RAF reports record R5.5bn in October claim payouts after 100 days in turnaround
The Road Accident Fund (RAF) has paid a record R5.5-billion in October, its highest regular monthly payment for the 2025/26 financial year, as the freshly appointed board marks its first 100 days in office and reports progress in stabilising the troubled institution. According to the RAF, the October figure followed on the R4.2-billion paid in September, continuing an upward pattern in claim settlements.
Cape Town mulls rolling out congestion charging, high-occupancy vehicle lanes
The City of Cape Town (CoCT) is mulling a number of measures to ease growing traffic congestion, including the intro of high-occupancy lanes and congestion charging. This implies that, in future, car users may pay to enter high-traffic locations during peak hours, which chosen lanes might be booked for lorries with more than a certain number of residents, as well as for buses and minibus taxis.
RAF pays out R694m to claimants in one day
The State-owned Road Accident Fund (RAF) made record payments of R694-million on October 17, highlighting the favorable effect of its fast-tracking efforts on everyday payment volumes. It has disbursed R17.3-billion in payment to road mishap victims and service providers because April, with R4.18-billion paid out in September alone. This marked the greatest quantity disbursed in a single month during the 2025/26 financial year.
Analysers, meters on show at EMA can help remedy water concerns
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) mandates, sustainability worries, and the “very real impacts of climate change and water scarcity in South Africa”, have resulted in a noticeable increase in demand for on-line metal analysers for liquids, says Royce Water Systems (RWS) director Jacques Franken. Given the realities around climate change and ongoing challenges relating to the provision, stewardship and use of water in South Africa, this increased interest is likely to persist, which is why it is particularly apt that RWS – a division of Action Instruments – will be showcasing SEIBOLD heavy metal analysers, as well as the WESS Global sludge level and density meters at Electra Mining Africa 2026.
RFA backs Port of Gauteng plan but warns success depends on private-sector role, real …
The Road Freight Association (RFA) has tossed its weight behind the proposed R50-billion Port of Gauteng project, calling it a possible “missing link” to revitalise South Africa’s logistics network. Nevertheless, the association has cautioned that the project’s success will depend upon authentic private-sector involvement and real road– rail integration, rather than producing another centralised bottleneck inland.
Modernisation aligns with changing realities
Transport Month is a timely chance to review how the nation’s forecourt network is adjusting to moving travel patterns, consumer expectations and the international energy transition, says petroleum business bp Southern Africa. The company, with more than a century of operations in South Africa, has actually embarked on a comprehensive programme to modernise its possessions and reassess convenience for the drivers these days and tomorrow, bp Southern Africa GM for movement and benefit Nokwanda Khumalo tells Engineering News.
Lag in testing a risk to safety gains
South Africa will need to equal international requirements of roadside drug testing, such as saliva-based screening, if it is to meaningfully attend to the growing danger of drugged driving and secure the nation’s investment in safer transport systems, states alcohol and drug testing equipment provider ALCO-Safe MD Rhys Evans. “Internationally, there are stop working limits in location, similar to those for alcohol, but in your area, we have no roadside testing whatsoever and no specified limits to deal with.”
Collaboration key to safer, more efficient corridors
This year’s Transport Month ought to firmly spotlight collective tasks between the personal and public sectors that are reinforcing the nation’s freight network, states advocacy body Road Freight Association (RFA) acting CEO Kevin van der Merwe. The National Corridor Performance Measurement and Monitoring Project utilizes data to recognize and deal with traffic jams on significant paths to enhance performance and shipment times, while private-sector collaborations along high-risk corridors such as the N3 are presenting innovative tracking, rapid-response teams and intelligence-sharing to enhance security.
Tau warns SA must embrace new energy vehicles to remain competitive
Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau states South Africa’s future competitiveness in the automotive sector depends upon rapidly accepting new energy vehicles (NEVs), as the global vehicle industry undergoes its most substantial improvement in a century. Worldwide markets are accelerating the shift away from internal combustion engines. The UK and the EU, which together account for practically half of South Africa’s lorry exports, will prohibit sales of new fossil-fuel cars by 2035.