The National Land Transport Strategic Framework for South Africa (2015) and Related Transportation Instruments: The Application of Transportation Modelling for Improved Decision Making?

The National Land Transport Strategic Framework (NLTSF) (2006) in South Africa was reviewed in 2015 in order to address current transportation issues after 21 years in a democratic society. This process was preceded by the publication of the National Development Plan (NDP) (2012) setting new development focuses and more specifically related to development of transportation systems, infrastructure goals and objectives influencing the movement of people, goods and services. The NDP holds specific implications for the implementation of planning instruments such as the NLTSF, the National Transport Master Plan (NATMAP) and the recently published Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF) (2014). If the content of these documents is evaluated, it is clear that it mainly consists of development principles that are uncoordinated and disjointed in terms of transportation development. This holds implications for transportation planning and development in terms of system development, priorities and projects. It focuses spatially on what should be done nationally with restricted intelligence on where it should take place and how development priorities should be determined. Transportation plans and development without supporting decision-making systems remain the goals and objectives of this study. This article will assess the use and application of decision-making tools through transportation modelling methodologies and practices. It will include the design of a framework to address challenges related to transportation planning through modelling techniques. It will inform decision making in enhancing transportation system and infrastructure development and enable interface management between transportation instruments.