School travel experiences of learners in rural areas: the case of Mt Elias, KwaZulu-Natal

The challenges identified by learners are multifaceted, involving physical, economic, environmental, and emotional hardships. From a transport equity perspective, the study highlighted critical issues of distributive injustice in the uneven allocation of transport services; recognitional injustice in the limited attention to local realities and gendered risks; and procedural injustice in the exclusion of learners and caregivers from transport planning. Addressing these layered inequalities requires not only infrastructure investment, but also responsive, participatory, and context-sensitive policies that center the voices of rural communities.