Transitioning SA's Petrochemical Value Chain

‘Avoid’ strategies seek to reduce total vehicle travel. They include development of compact communities and other policies that minimise travel distances and promote efficient transport through pricing and demand management programmes. Through rethinking urban planning, they can contribute to combatting the high energy transport input required by urban sprawl and long distances covered in rural settings. Long travel distances come at a huge cost in particular to the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum, with over 60% of people spending more than 10% of their income to just access employment creating opportunities (sustainable transport engagement). Avoid strategies thus focus on meeting societies’ needs, such as access to opportunities, reduced travel times and other elements of multi-dimensional transport quality, rather than focusing purely on techno-economic efficiency. 

Avoid strategies assist both remaining strategies – those of Shift and Improve – in that they reduce the amount of travel that requires shifting and then improving.