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Towards Smart Urban Transportation System in Harare, Zimbabwe

Authors:
Elmond Bandauko at The University of Western Ontario
Elmond Bandauko
Tinashe Bobo
Tinashe Bobo
Gladys Mandisvika at University of Zimbabwe
Gladys Mandisvika
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Abstract

The concept of smart transportation systems is increasingly becoming critical in addressing the challenges posed by an increasing number of mega cities in both developed and developing regions in maintaining safety, smooth traffic flow, and an environmentally friendly and sustainable urban environment. The Government of Zimbabwe deregulated its transport sector in the early 1990s. This development ushered in the informal public transport operators, locally referred to as 'kombis'. Major cities such as Harare are characterised by a disjointed and chaotic urban public transport system. The major problems are the impacts this has on the quality of the environment. Currently, the urban public transport system is contributing greatly to both air and noise pollution within the confines of the city, especially in the Central Business Districts. The problem is further exacerbated by the massive importation of used vehicles from outside the country. These developments have resulted in high emission rates of major air pollutants resulting in a deterioration of the ambient air quality especially in the major cities such as Harare. Transportation is a major source of air pollutants. Vehicles are probably the largest single source
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DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0302-6.ch005
Chapter 5
126
Towards Smart Urban
Transportation System
in Harare, Zimbabwe
Elmond Bandauko
University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Tinashe Bobo
University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Gladys Mandisvika
University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
ABSTRACT
The concept of smart transportation systems is increasingly becoming critical in
addressing the challenges posed by an increasing number of mega cities in both
developed and developing regions in maintaining safety, smooth traffic flow, and
an environmentally friendly and sustainable urban environment. The Government
of Zimbabwe deregulated its transport sector in the early 1990s. This development
ushered in the informal public transport operators, locally referred to as ‘kombis’.
Major cities such as Harare are characterised by a disjointed and chaotic urban
public transport system. The major problems are the impacts this has on the qual-
ity of the environment. Currently, the urban public transport system is contributing
greatly to both air and noise pollution within the confines of the city, especially in
the Central Business Districts. The problem is further exacerbated by the massive
importation of used vehicles from outside the country. These developments have
resulted in high emission rates of major air pollutants resulting in a deterioration of
the ambient air quality especially in the major cities such as Harare. Transportation
is a major source of air pollutants. Vehicles are probably the largest single source
Towards Smart Urban Transportation System in Harare, Zimbabwe
127
INTRODUCTION
Urbanisation is making smart cities more important. Globally, 54% of the world’s
population lives in cities, a figure the United Nations predicts will rise to 66% by
2050. For cities to manage an ever-increasing influx of people, they must adopt
new smart technologies and processes to remain attractive places to live and work.
Over the last few years, the rapid development of Information Technologies (IT) has
created new opportunities for the sustainable growth of cities. Nowadays, cities are
being approached as complex systems which increasingly attract people who wish
to work and live in them. For this reason, cities have to deal with various problems,
such as traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, energy efficiency, high densi-
ties, the lack of green space and an increasing demand for services. The concept
of smart transportation systems is increasingly becoming critical in addressing the
challenges posed by an increasing number of mega cities in both developed and
developing regions in maintaining safety, smooth traffic flow, and an environmen-
of pollutants such as hydrocarbons, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide. Other
harmful emissions include as lead, benzene, arsenic, aldehydes, sulphates, particu-
late matter and the secondary creation of ozone. In Harare the number of registered
vehicles increased from 192 901 in 1994 to 292 862 and by August 1999 showing
that the increase in the number of vehicles is mostly in the cities. This chapter
seeks to explore how smart transportation system can be adopted in Harare, the
capital city of Zimbabwe. Harare was purposefully selected as it is experiencing
rapid urbanization and motorization in the country. Using documentary analysis,
discourse analysis and textual analysis, the chapter also describes and examines
the challenges, constraints and opportunities of adopting smart urban transporta-
tion system in Harare. From this chapter the major conclusions are that the main
problem associated with this rapid growth in vehicle population in the major cities
is increase concentration of line and area emission sources due to traffic conges-
tion at peak times. The stock of vehicles is quite old and they lack emission control
equipment. Major constraints and limitations are observed in the current pieces of
legislation. For example, the current Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act (1971)
does not require vehicles to be fitted with emission control equipment. Most of the
vehicles use leaded fuel resulting in emission of the dangerous lead particulate mat-
ter in the urban areas. There is therefore an urgent need to design and implement
air pollution control measures in the urban areas of the country. It is also critical
to develop smart and eco-friendly transportation infrastructures so as to achieve
sustainable urban communities. The integration of transportation, land use and
decision making is also critical in the achievement of smart transport.
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