Abstract
Sustainable transportation is vital since its impact traverses generations. The concept of sustainable transportation is known to account for incorporation of various elements including environmental, economic, social and institutional factors. The current study employed exploratory factor analytic technique using maximum likelihood factoring to identify critical indicators for assessing transportation infrastructure projects in South Africa. Using purposive and snowball sampling, a questionnaire was distributed via email, google forms and by hand, to project managers, directors, construction managers, planners and feasibility study consultants involved in transportation projects at different stages, in the nine provinces of South Africa. Empirical data amassed from 132 responses, were analysed using SPSS version 25 software.s Descriptive analyses were used for preliminary analyses. Inferential statistics was conducted using exploratory factor analysis, to output common factors and the minimum number of variables that were related to each construct. Findings revealed that a four-factor structure including infrastructure condition and impacts, user acceptability, financial management and safety and security, can adequately measure transportation infrastructure project sustainability. By establishing critical indicators for assessing transportation projects, the study provides relevant evidence to develop strategies to ensure that such investments bring lasting and desirable impacts in the long run. The study was conducted in South Africa and may not be generalisable to other geographical regions, which may have differing priorities with regard to sustainable performance of transport infrastructure. Further studies are on-going to validate the four-factor structure using confirmatory factor analytical techniques.