Civil Engineering September 2021 | Vol 29 No 8

40 September 2021 Civil Engineering SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT FOR A BETTER WORLD The first event for the year was an interactive online student seminar held on World Engineering Day (4 March 2021) and presented by Erin da Silva and Tshepi Khabo. The theme for the seminar was ‘Sustainable Transport for a Better World’ and unpacked the concept of sustainable transport in line with the theme for World Engineering Day, ‘Engineering for a Healthy Planet’. Focus was placed on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals with specific reference to goals 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13. The session provided participants with the op- portunity to give their perspectives on the South African transport industry and put forward ideas on how to make it more sustainable, as illustrated Figures 1 and 2. Creating a sustainable world requires a multidis- ciplinary effort. Apart from celebrating soon-to-be engineers, the aim was to outline the importance of promoting sustainability in engineering thinking and to inspire the next generation of transport engineers. “As engineers we need to recognise the importance of our work in shaping a better tomorrow; but also, we need to be cognisant of the impacts as well. In response, we thought it was important to celebrate this day and our members. We also wanted to bring into perspective the role that transport plays in achieving sustainable development and hopefully inspire our younger members to actively embrace sustainable transport.” – Erin da Silva. Inspiring the next generation of transport engineers The SAICE Transport Division’s Student Outreach Portfolio has had a busy year engaging students and providing support to the various SAICE student chapters. The division has been instrumental in organising site visits, and hosting student webinars and interactive events during 2021. The outline below provides a snapshot of the year to date. What words come to mind when you think of the South African Transport System? Figure 1 The words participants associate with the South African transport system Figure 2 Participants’ suggestions for making South Africa’s transport system sustainable What should we do to make South Africa’s Transport System sustainable? Encourage the use of public transport. A rapid introduction of non-motorised transport such as bike lanes. Effective maintanance. Improve public transport. Make it an attractive option and use incentives. Traffic lights that work. Commercialize the use of buses to get to work to give it traction like uber. Improve perception of public transport through improvements in safety, accessibility, visible security etc. Compact cities, reduce private vehicle dependency, increase public transport usage. Improve public transport.