Civil Engineering May 2022 | Vol 30 No 4

42 May 2022 Civil Engineering T he Covid-19 restrictions imposed by countries in the region affected cross-border road transport operations, especially passenger transport demand and operations. The C-BRTA’s study explored the impact of the pan- demic, focusing on cross-border permits issued to South African cross-border operators between 2011 to 2021 to understand the historical trends and how the pandemic affected cross-border road passenger transport, specifically bus, taxi, and tour operations. The strategic objective for undertaking the study was to assess the impact of the pandemic with a view to provide advice and information to stakeholders in order to find interventions aimed at alleviating the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the road passenger transport industry. BACKGROUND On 11 March 2020 the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic. Since then, daily life across the globe has changed. It quickly became evident that it would evolve into a crisis like no other historical event, resulting in dramatic damage to the global economy, trade, and mobility. Bringing the industry into survival mode due to loss of travel and revenues, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a full- scale global transportation crisis. Practically all aspects of economic and social activity were, and still are, disrupted (OECD, 2020). Given the need for the safety and wellbeing of passengers, many countries introduced several measures aimed at reducing the risk of spreading Covid-19. Unfortunately, some of the measures had a negative impact on cross-border passenger operations (Government Office for Science, 2019). Cross-border taxi and bus permits for operations from South Africa are issued to ten countries, namely Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, eSwatini, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Figures 1, 2 and 3 show cross-border permits issued per country over the ten-year period studied. The corresponding passenger volumes and vehicle count could not be verified due to the low or non-return of passenger lists, as prescribed by the Cross-Border Road Transport Act No. 4 of 1998, as amended. DATA ANALYSIS: BUS, TAXI AND TOURIST PERMITS Bus permits issued for cross‑border operations Figure 1 shows cross-border bus permits issued per country over the ten-year period studied. The impact of Covid-19 on cross-border passenger transport operations: case study of South Africa Zama Msibi Research Officer Cross-Border Road Transport Agency zama.msibi@cbrta.co.za Etiyel Chibira Senior Manager: Research and Project Management Cross-Border Road Transport Agency etiyel.chibira@cbrta.co.za The Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA) recently conducted a study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on cross-border road passenger transport movements. This was informed by the fact that many countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) imposed restrictions to limit the spread and impact of Covid-19 in the form of lockdowns and border closures. Figure 1 Bus permits issued per country (Source: C-BRTA Annual Reports, 2011 to 2021) Number of permits issued 1 600 1 400 1 200 1 000 800 600 400 200 0 Year 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 Botswana DRC Lesotho Malawi Mozambique Namibia eSwatini Zambia Zimbabwe