DURBAN - Over the festive period, traffic volumes increased on average by 1.8 percent when compared to the same period in the previous year, and this bodes well for the economy, according to South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).
Vusi Mona, Sanral’s general manager for communications, said yesterday that Sanral had found that there was a relationship between traffic volumes on the national road corridors and the status of the South African economy.
Mona said based on historic trends the average increase in traffic volumes year-on-year on the national road corridors was at 1percent above the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of the country.
Over the festive period, traffic volumes increased on average by 1.8 percent when compared to the same period in the previous year, and this bodes well for the economy, according to South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral). Picture: David Ritchie/African News Agency (ANA) Archives
Independent investment analyst Chris Gilmour said that it was
difficult to pinpoint specific reasons for this increase in traffic volumes,
but it seemed reasonable to assume that there were more people who opted to use motor vehicles to get to their holiday destinations rather than those who flew, considering
the tightness of the current economic situation.
Gilmour said that he believed that as the economy continued to bite into disposable income, more people would drive rather than fly.
Meanwhile, Mona said that over the next three years, Sanral planned to implement more than 900 projects linked to their approved budget of more than R70 billion.