Keen to collaborate? Get involved
At the Centre for Transport Studies (CfTS), we engage directly with people in communities and community-based organisations around transport and mobility in Cape Town's urban area. In doing so we learn directly from many different perspectives, have opportunities to share from our research and teaching, and can jointly identify issues to work on together as well as explore in greater depth in our research.
Much of this engagement arises organically from our academic work, but also from UCT's Knowledge Co-Op, an online platform that connects communities with people in the university.
Our community work includes these projects:
- Exploring the use of digital technologies to increase paratransit services' operational efficiencies, and drawing in community members to collect data
- Running workshops with local paratransit owners and drivers
- The introduction of "bicycle buses" and "walking buses" at local schools that collect learners walking or cycling to and from school in an organised and safe group
- The development of a regional toolkit for learner mobility on the African continent, working with learners and broader mobility-sector stakeholders, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- Lectures at local schools to spread awareness and understanding of transport issues, such as traffic jams, supported by SANRAL
- Tackling cycling challenges in direct conversation with people who live in different parts of our city, working with community-oriented organisations such as the Bicycle Empowerment Network (BEN), Cycling Cities and Qhubeka