A plan that promotes night-time trucking‚ sensors to prevent road damage from overloaded vehicles and air pollution control is open for public comment in the City of Cape Town. This comes after a commitment announced by the city in mid-December to spend R750 million over five years for road infrastructure projects to alleviate major pressure points across Cape Town – the most congested city in South Africa‚ according to a GPS company.The new draft Freight Management Strategy aims to improve the efficiency and future growth of road-based transport of cargo‚ including to and from the port as well as the airport.According to the city’s Transport Development Index (TDI): - The direct transport cost (fuel‚ salaries‚ maintenance and repairs‚ toll fees) for freight operators is R1‚755 billion per annum; - The cost of congestion for freight operators is R121 million per annum - The impact of freight transporters on Cape Town’s residents in terms of accidents is R930 million per annum - The impact of freight transporters on the city’s road network (capital expenditure and maintenance) is R713 million per annum.The Port of Cape Town‚ the major generator of freight‚ has expansion plans to roughly triple its current container handling services in the next 20 years‚ which requires the city to address its capacity to accommodate this future growth.Much of the freight moving to and from Cape Town is transported along the N1‚ N2 and N7 and currently up to 20% of the vehicles on the N1 are heavy vehicles.“The draft strategy proposes certain interventions to reduce the impact of road-based freight on our urban environment. Two things are very clear: rail must be part of the plan and secondly‚ we will have to implement innovative solutions to reduce the overall cost of doing business in Cape Town‚” the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport‚ Councillor Brett Herron‚ said in a statement.The proposed strategy is looking at: - Measures for safer transportation of dangerous goods such as fuels‚ industrial gases‚ agricultural chemicals and refrigerants - Using weigh-in-motion devices that are designed to capture and record heavy vehicle axle weights and gross vehicle weights as they drive over a sensor - Dedicated freight routes and promoting off-peak or night-time deliveries and operations to alleviate congestion. - Potential benefits of consolidated and relocated distribution centres and warehousing‚ and - Setting emissions standards and penalties for non-compliance for various categories of freight and establish a testing regime to check and enforce compliance. For public comment‚ the draft strategy will be available at libraries‚ subcouncil offices and on the City’s website at www.capetown.gov.za/haveyoursay from 19 February until 23 March 2016. In 2015‚ Transport for Cape Town (TCT) conducted a congestion study which identified Blaauwberg‚ Kuils River and Kommetjie as the three growth areas in most need of intervention.“Our information shows that commuters in the Kuils River‚ Kommetjie and Blaauwberg areas travel‚ on average‚ twice as long during the peak period compared with the off-peak period to reach their destinations. The peak period in these areas extends for three hours as compared with the two hours elsewhere in the city. These areas are therefore the first pressure points to be addressed by the City over the next five years‚” said Councillor Herron. The worst congested areas in relation to freight movement‚ business traffic and public transport services were identified as Jip de Jager Drive in Bellville‚ Broadway Boulevard in the Strand‚ Sir Lowry’s Pass Village Road in Gordon’s Bay and De Villiers Road in Durbanville. Globally ranked at 55 by GPS service provider Tom Tom‚ Cape Town is the most congested city in South Africa with morning commutes adding up to 72 percent of commuting time...