Civil Engineering September 2022 | Vol 30 No 8

36 September 2022 Civil Engineering road classifications within NMMDM and the number of kilometres represented by each road class, while Table 2 provides a definition of the various road classes. All national roads are surfaced, but just 28.25% of the main roads are surfaced, meaning 71.75% (orange zone) of the main roads within NMMDM are un- metalled. Secondary roads are also 87.54% unsurfaced. More than 50% of both arte- rial and minor roads are unsurfaced. All the unsurfaced roads (orange) are unmetalled, meaning they are gravel (mud surface). The arterial and minor roads are the most used traffic roads in rural areas. However, the informal routes that are used as means of connection to formal routes are not always indicated in strategic papers. Table 3 indicates the road network that has rural access – of which only 55.41% is surfaced – and is useful in measuring potential infrastructural mobility access. The municipality’s strategic documents did not highlight any walkway infrastruc- ture provision, however, motorised trans- port such as minibus taxis and subsidised buses are mostly catered for. However, it cannot be concluded that the majority of the population is catered for within the infrastructure coverage presented above, as the RTSSA highlights that deep former rural homelands still lack infrastructure investment. Figure 3 indicates that the most used mode of transport is NMT, namely walking (75%), followed by bus use (8%) and minibus taxi use (7%). There is a rail network that is not passenger operational. NMT in NMMDM includes walking, bicycles, and animal-drawn carts. THE CHALLENGES OF RURAL TRANSPORT AND SOCIAL INCLUSION “Most communities in the “deep” former homeland areas are still suf- fering from insufficient investment in and maintenance of rural roads and transport services. Part of the reason may be an inherent bias of IDP processes.” – RTSSA, 2007 Rural transport has inter-relationship elements that limit the access of rural residents. Lack of infrastructure can in- crease transport costs, considering infra- structure as an influential factor of modal choice and availability. The majority of the population within NMMDM lives in poverty, resulting in a high population that walks within the district. The limita- tion of complemental or substitute modal availability raises the fares due to lack of competition. Due to a lack of holistic attention and full capacity implementation of the RTSSA, the strategy plans that highlight the achievements of RTSSA since its in- troduction focus on the common strategic objective of scholar transportation for learners, which extract population group and size. The complementary challenge with NMT is infrastructure provision to enhance its effectiveness within Table 2 Definitions of road classes Road class Definition National roads Major roads and freeways which connect major cities Main roads Inter-regional roads that connect inter-district traffic and inter-urban traffic to other roads (Law Insider, 2022) Secondary roads Highways that serve inter-district traffic between urban and rural centres and provide traffic connections between primary roads or major arterial highways (Law Insider, 2022). Arterial roads Rural roads that feed into provincial highways (Law Insider, 2022) Minor roads (access and streets) Roads carrying traffic that has origin and destinations in the immediate area with the main purpose of giving access to individual properties (SANRAL, 2012) Table 3 NMMDM arterial and minor road network (surfaced and unsurfaced) (Source: DITP, 2019) Total network (km) Surfaced roads (km) Unsurfaced roads (km) Surfaced roads (%) Unsurfaced roads (%) 4 475,70 1 995,90 2 479,80 44.59% 55.41% Figure 4 Motlhabeng main road (Source: Authors and Boipelo Mere) Figure 3 NMMDM modal share (Source: DITP, 2019) Walking (75%) Car (9%) Bus (8%) Taxi (7%) Bicycle (1%) Train (0%)