PTV Group, market leader for mobility and logistics software will support research and development at the Stellenbosch Smart Mobility Laboratory with its renowned software solutions for transportation modeling and simulation. The two partners will also collaborate closely on mobility and intelligent transport system projects. PTV Group and Stellenbosch University are excited to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to underpin this joint commitment to innovation in smart and sustainable mobility.

As part of SU’s Faculty of Engineering, the Stellenbosch Smart Mobility Laboratory (SSML) focuses on technology solutions and data applications for transportation engineering. The SSML provides a state-of-the-art research and teaching environment for the development of innovative and cost-effective transportation solutions for developing countries. With access to PTV’s leading transport modeling and simulation software PTV Visum and PTV Vissim, students can conduct their mobility studies under realistic transportation planning conditions, and thus become better prepared for their future working environments.

Another vision of the SSML is to make Stellenbosch the first transport-orientated “smart city” in South Africa. The University and PTV are working closely together and with the Stellenbosch Municipality on a project to coordinate traffic signals in the town in real-time, to reduce congestion. For this project, the SSML uses a PTV transport model for testing and calibrating the adaptive traffic signal control systems in the town, which are also based on PTV software.

“Stellenbosch University and the PTV Group have maintained a close relationship for many years,” says Christian Haas, CEO of PTV Group. “I am pleased that we can now give this an official framework with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. Our joint project with the Stellenbosch Municipality shows how fruitful this partnership already is. Together we will empower cities in South Africa on their way to smart, sustainable mobility.”

Dr Johann Andersen, Associate Professor of Intelligent Transportation Systems at Stellenbosch University adds “I’m very excited that we now have this arrangement with PTV Group. Our students benefit from the software of the industry leader when learning, working, and researching in the SSML. This enables them to do realistic transportation planning and makes them sought-after transportation planners and engineers on graduation.”

Stellenbosch University is home to 29 000 students across five campuses. The historical oak-lined university town in the winelands of the Western Cape, South Africa, has a unique campus atmosphere, which attracts local and foreign students alike.

The University is amongst South Africa’s leading tertiary institutions based on research output, student pass rates and rated scientists, and is recognised internationally as an academic institution of excellence. It boasts the highest weighted research output per full-time academic staff member of all South African universities and the second-highest number of scientists in South Africa who have been rated by the National Research Foundation (NRF). It also has the highest student success rate in the country.

The Faculty of Engineering is one of SU’s flagship faculties and has been a major pro-ducer of South Africa’s top-quality engineers since 1944. There are approximately 4 000 engineering students, of whom approximately 3 000 are undergraduate and 1 000 post-graduate. These world-class engineers contribute to the economic development of the country and improves citizens’ quality of life.

Source: PTV Group