The government has made a leap further on its route to find a solution to road congestion. A South African technician, Mr Genis, of African Engineering International (Pty) Ltd, was the guest speaker of a seminar organised by the ministry of Public Infrastructure aiming at gathering all decision-makers, stakeholders or partners of the sector to introduce new software. PTV Vision Macro-Level Transport Modelling Software – PTV is a German software development company – is a planning tool expected to help decision-makers have a better idea of the changes to be brought to improve the situation.

“The number of people present today shows how traffic congestion has become a major concern in the country. We now have to adapt to the modern world and adopt a more scientific thinking,” commented the deputy prime minister and minister of Public Infrastructure, Land, Transport and Shipping, Rashid Beebeejaun. Hence, the ministry has purchased the modern programme allowing the simulation, conception, planning and assessment of the transport system so as to be better equipped to decide on improvements to the network and reduce traffic congestion.

<B>Improved mobility </B>

The situation in the country is alarming with congested roadways, high accident rates, environmental pollution, increased private vehicle ownership and use, decreasing public transport use, parking problems and lack of adequate transportation planning tools. As minister Beebeejaun pointed out, “In every country, there is a time for everything. In the past, there were years dedicated to health, wastewater and education. I believe the next few years will have to be dedicated to solving the problem of road congestion and improving safety on our roads”.

In the future, there needs to be an increase in road linkages and safety. Public transport needs improvement, just as town and country environment. The overall objective will be to improve mobility of people and goods in the marketplace and leisure areas. With this in mind, the South African technician made it clear that the new programme can help decision-makers.

The software includes two complementary modules: VISUM and VISSIM – allowing the visual and graphic representation of traffic flow. “The software can provide decision-makers with hard facts on which they can base themselves to improve the situation,” Mr Genis pointed out. VISUM is a strategic modelling module, “a planning tool which provides strategic guidance for network and public transport improvements”. Transportation micro-simulation, set by VISSIM module, will “provide ground level guidance regarding the implementation of local projects”.

In short, the software uses basic information that users put into the system and gives a picture of the existing state of the transport system. It then allows the testing and evaluation of new scenarios on new roads or changes to existing roads, congestion charging and tolling schemes and land-use strategies.

Mr Genis gave an insight of how the software can be used. The image shows a certain number of cars around Port-Louis roundabout and gives quite a precise idea of the interactions between the cars on the road. The power of the modelling project is that it does not show the situation as it is now but it shows the situation in the future if some changes are brought to the network.

The staff of the ministry of Public Infrastructure will have to be trained to feed solid information into the system so that strategies can be worked upon. The system needs to be constantly updated and refined so that it gets as close as possible to the reality. The foreign expert has trained 14 managers coming from the ministry of Public infrastructure, the ministry of Lands and the university of Mauritius on how the software works. All the participants were awarded certificates of attendance to the capacity building training but the minister of Public infrastructure made it clear. “There is no point having such a tool if we can’t use it properly. This is why these courses will continue.” He also explained that the planning tool is “only the beginning, as there is not just one solution to such a complex issue”.