Browsing by Author "Van der Westhuizen, Bruwer Lourens"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Driving side and driving side change : an overview of costs, benefits and economic implication
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Van der Westhuizen, Bruwer Lourens; Krygsman, Stephan; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Logistics. Logistics.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : The main goal of this study is to determine if there are any costs or benefits that can be associated with Right Hand Drive (RHD) countries and the Left Hand Drive (LHD) countries. This thesis first indicates world figures on driving side. This gives an overall view on how the world is divided between LHD and RHD countries. The research follows by focussing on countries that changed their driving side. The reason for changing driving side is investigated and assigned to either being economical, spatial or political of nature. Descriptive statistics on driving side are analysed (Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP per capita), vehicle ownership and accident rates) to see if there is any difference in driving side with regards to economic indicators. The following chapter shifts to the African continent. Transport prices and costs in Africa are discussed, leading into final chapter. The final chapter considers the change of switching driving side for Rwanda and to make a possible recommendation. The thesis concluded that most of the countries in the world are LHD. Countries that changed their driving side initially did so because of political reasons but change later became driven by spatial and regional integration reasons. The research shows that there are no statistical significant differences between the wealth of RHD and LHD countries in the world and that vehicle ownership increases at a diminish rate with GDP per capita. There is no indication that the driving side of a country will have an effect on its accident rate and vehicle ownership increases at a diminishing rate with GDP per capita. Africa is still largely divided and there seems to be no difference between LHD and RHD African countries with regards to economic indicators. Transport costs structures are very different to those of European countries and are more labour intensive. There are projects that aim to increase the efficiency of transport in Africa, but the research shows a lack of acknowledging different driving sides in the continent. The research for switching driving sides in Rwanda reveals significant cost savings with using RHD vehicles rather than LHD vehicles and switching driving side would be beneficial. If the decision to switch driving side is purely based on vehicle operating costs, switching from LHD to RHD vehicles will be economically beneficial for Rwanda.