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Mienke Knipe reaped the fruits of her hard work when she was honoured at the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI)'s coveted South African Women in Science Awards (SAWiSA). Knipe, a doctoral candidate in Transport Economics within the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) at Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票 (SU), received a DSI-Esther Mahlangu Fellowship for doctoral studies at a gala event in Mbombela, Mpumalanga on Thursday 15 August 2024.

The annual Women in Science Awards celebrates women excelling in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), profiles women scientists and researchers who serve as role models for younger women and encourages those who are starting their careers as researchers and scientists to continue in STEM-related careers. Registered master's and PhD students stand to win fellowships to support their studies in areas ranging from indigenous knowledge systems to astronomy.

Knipe received a doctoral fellowship for a research project that quantifies the economic role of transport. She says knowing the extent to which reduced travel time, reduced travel cost and improved access to transport facilitates economic activity at sub-national level provides motivation for, selection of and prioritisation of government-funded transport investment. Closing the knowledge gap can contribute to the justification for increased government-funded transport investment.

“I feel empowered to conduct, disseminate and inspire more research in transport economics/planning. The field of transport is a male-dominated industry. In fact, the Minister of Transport, Ms Barbara Creecy, recently shared a statistic that only 22% of South Africans in the transport industry are females.

“Furthermore, the statistics on people living with a disability (like me) in the transport industry is even lower. Therefore, opportunities that recognises women in transport, through initiatives such as the SAWiSA, hopefully inspires more young women with and without disabilities to take a seat at a male-dominated table.

“With prize money of nearly R100 000, this fellowship provides the opportunity to share transport-related ideas, challenges and solutions on international platforms via publications and conferences with the aim of collaborating with others from multidisciplinary fields."

Knipe's research output was used to comment on the draft National Public Transport Subsidy policy of South Africa. This policy sets a goal that travel cost for commuters be no more than 10% of their income. Currently, South Africans spend nearly double this. A chapter of her PhD thesis shows how South Africans will redistribute a saving in their travel cost if the policy goal of 10% is met.

Knipe has experience in the passenger transport industry across public, private and academic sectors. Her project involvement in the private and public sectors includes Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plans, Provincial Land Transport Framework MyCiti and Dial-a-Ride, collaborating with entities such as the City of Cape Town, Stellenbosch Municipality, Intercape and the World Bank. Demonstrating a sharp focus on revenue optimisation, she served as a revenue manager for a regional airline and led a passenger satisfaction project for two long-distance bus operators in South Africa.

She also presented her work at the African Transport Research Conference, the Annual Southern African Transport Conference and the Union Internationale des Transports Publics.