1. An economics-based road classification system for South Africa
Matthew Townshend
School of Economics, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Professor Don Ross
School of Sociology, Philosophy, Criminology, Government, and Politics, University College Cork, Ireland
Center for Economic Analysis of Risk, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

2. Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018
Contents
Problem statement
Classification criteria
Road classes
Prioritisation rule
Basic Access Roads
Strategic Roads
Tactical Roads
Surplus Roads
Application of the classification system
Questions
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

3. Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018
Problem statement
Mismatch between network objectives and road classification systems
Network objectives:
Satisfy citizens’ constitutional right to access basic services
Maximise potential economic growth
Classification systems:
Functional classification
Administrative classification
Geometric classification
Naming heirarchy
Road Traffic Signs classification
Route number classification X
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

4. Fundamental classification criteria
Small number of road classes
Easy for officials to use
Simple, but all practically relevant classes included
Unambiguous descriptive terminology for road classes
Clear, concise, distinct, objective definitions
Classes are scaleless and ubiquitous across the network
The entire network must be consistently classified
Hierarchical contiguity
Roads of the same class connect to form a continuous network
Undermines efficiencies obtainable from prioritising across whole networks
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

5. Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018
Economic road classes
Class
Description
Basic Access Roads
No alternative access routes to basic service centres
Rural roads
Reflect access norms and standards
Strategic Roads
High volume transport routes
Inelastic demand
Urban roads
Tactical Roads
Low to medium volume transport routes
Cyclical demand
Rural and peri-urban roads
Surplus Roads
No non-redundant basic access function
Negative contribution to economic growth
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

6. Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018
Prioritisation rule
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

7. Basic Access Road Network
Constitutional obligation
Estimation methodology:
GIS location of schools & healthcare facilities
Determine fastest access routes
Remove high volume roads
Remove urban roads
Control for access norms & standards
Tool to slow rural-urban migration
Estimated at 8.2% of total network
No control for multi-functional roads
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

8. Strategic Road Network
Supports structural economic activities
Includes more than just national roads
Major transport routes between key locations
Estimation methodology:
Core Strategic Network (9 200km)
Secondary Strategic Network (9 600km)
Primary Road Network (14 000km)
Urban roads
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

9. Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018
Tactical Road Network
Tactical Roads must make a positive contribution to economic growth
This determination should be based on a structural growth model that comprises two terms:
The expected cost of the road
The road’s expected contribution to economic growth
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

10. Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018
Surplus Road Network
Surplus Roads must make a negative contribution to economic growth
This determination is based on the same structural growth model
Because the present value of the cost of maintaining these roads exceeds the economic contribution, authorities should unproclaim Surplus Roads and reprioritise any allocated funding towards the other productive classes
This action is permissible as none of these roads form part of a household’s essential access route to basic service centres
Authorities must formally unproclaim Strategic Roads, rather than simply neglecting their maintenance
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

11. Application of the new classification system
These classifications can be added as a decision variable in the RAMS by pairing the road IDs with the relevant class
The intention is not to overwrite the existing classification data, but rather to include economic information that can help prioritise maintenance schedules in line with the sector’s mandates
Economics-based road classification provides an objective method to help ensure no important roads are overlooked
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018

12. Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018
Thank you
Questions?
Southern African Transport Conference, 9-11 July 2018