Towards a dedicated transport safety research facility for South Africa

Abstract

The establishment of a dedicated CSIR research facility for transport safety has been a topic of discussion for several years. In 2020 the CSIR embarked on a process to establish a facility dedicated to transport safety research to be known as the Transport Safety Lab. The aim is to address transport unsafety by conducting experimental projects that provide insight into the mechanisms and contributory factors that cause risk and incidents in the transport environment. This paper provides feedback regarding progress made with the Transport Safety Lab project to address the Research Development and Innovation (RD&I) gap by enabling experimental research (evidence based and data driven), promoting, and advancing initiatives and opportunities that encourage the use of local data and methodologies in support of local transport safety solutions. In addition, the article provides a review of current experimental projects that support capability development and the building of a portfolio of evidence to be used to display the type of work that the Transport Safety Lab can do. The experimental projects revolve around specific topics that contribute to addressing accidents and incidents and are considered to long-term projects or research programmes that are evidence-based and that will in future inform the development and implementation of relevant, targeted policies, regulations, and interventions to effectively curb transport safety issues responsible for crippling the South African economy.