With the support of the WWF Nedbank Green Trust, Open Streets Cape Town is working to help increase awareness of options that reduce the environmental impact of travel. But we know that options are limited for people living in Cape Town, either through personal circumstance or the absence of good-quality public transport.
No matter how committed you may be to the idea of “green” transport, it might be difficult – or impossible – for you to avoid travelling by car. Or maybe you can't afford to drive, but still your options are limited.
It is these constraints, rather than our good intentions, that often determine how we really move around most of the time. So if we want to encourage more people to walk or cycle or use public transport, we first need to understand how they move around.
With this in mind, we have designed an engaging research concept called the AtoB Challenge Travel Diaries. It invites a select group of people to document each trip they make on a daily basis in some detail. The aim is not to change how people travel, but rather to get a realistic reflection of day-to-day movements. We hope this will help us understand people’s travel needs.
We have 100 spots so there is ample opportunity to take part. All you have to do is either sign up at Open Streets City Centre on 15th January or confirm your interest here. You will then receive a Travel Diary Pack with instructions and some interesting background material to help you on your way.
Everyone who takes part in this seven-day experiment will receive an Open Streets T-shirt and the chance to win a sponsored bicycle. But there is more! Because people sometimes change their travel patterns between summer and winter, or because their circumstances change, we want to repeat this with the same participants in the winter of 2017, and again in the summer of 2017/18. Each time you participate, you will be entered in another draw for a bicycle.
We will publish the results of this research (without revealing anyone’s identity) so you can see how useful this is. Furthermore, we we want to help the City of Cape Town plan its streets and its transport system in ways that make it easier for everyone, and that requires more than counting cars and widening roads. It requires better information about what you, the user, experience.
This content was made possible through the support of the WWF Nedbank Green Trust.
