Open road tolling mooted by Gauteng government a decade prior to start of construction

Both the Department of Transport and Sanral will this week present evidence to the e-tolling review panel that Gauteng proposed the introduction of toll roads on the province's freeways long before cabinet approved the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project in 2007.

Transport Minister, Dipuo Peters, in her opening remarks to the panel this morning, quoted from two reports the Gauteng province published in 1997 (before Sanral was established) and 1998 in which the province mooted the idea of open road tolling and proposed the establishment of electronic tolling on its freeways.

In a report titled "Development of a toll road network", the Department, headed by the then MEC for Transport and Public Works, Mr Paul Mashatile, investigated various funding options and came to the conclusion: "Electronic toll collection allows the opportunity to lower plaza costs considerably and should, therefore, be used to the maximum from the outset. It is considered that virtually all toll collection will ultimately be by electronic means, but initially this will not be so."

The submission to the panel shows how a subsequent "Proposed Gauteng toll road strategy", published a year later, investigated a range of funding options for the freeway network, including tolling, a provincial fuel levy and an increase in licence fees of about 65%. Referring to the fuel price or licence options, it warned: "The threat, however, exists that these sources of income may not be seen as road user charges and could therefore be used for other applications."

Only in 2005 did Sanral submit a proposal to the Minister of Transport to upgrade and expand the freeway network in Gauteng. This proposal was evaluated by an inter-governmental working group comprised of senior representatives from national, provincial and metro governments in Gauteng.

This group produced a report on the "Gauteng Network Integration Process: Proposal for a Gauteng Freeway Improvement Scheme", which recognised the urgent need to upgrade the road network to reduce traffic congestion and ensure sustainable economic growth in the province.

Among the recommendations contained in the report was that the scheme must promote the use of public transport and travel demand management, and that the "user pay principle" must be used as a financing tool for the maintenance, upgrading and expansion of the network.

The Gauteng Roads Development Plan, adopted by the Gauteng Cabinet in August 2006, and announced by Mr Mashatile as MEC for finance and economic affairs, stated that the possibility of tolling of existing and future freeways will be explored to allow for the raising of private sector funding for the maintenance and construction of high-order roads.

The submission to the panel sets out in great detail how a range of working groups and inter-governmental committees considered, and agreed on the principles and details of both the freeway improvement plan and its funding mechanisms.

This resulted in the final decision by the national government to give the green light to Sanral, as the implementing agency, to proceed with the construction of the road network and the introduction of open road tolling.

The Gauteng Integrated Transport Master Plan published in 2013, again, indicates its support for the plan which is described as "vital for the further development of the province". The document, which serves as a 25-year planning document for the province, rejects the proposal of a fuel levy for the funding because it is "not considered as an equitable solution as all South African citizens will have to pay for infrastructure in Gauteng and fuel consumption does not represent the full structural, congestion and environmental impact of the cost responsibility of especially heavy vehicles".

This plan states that the users of transportation infrastructure "are willing to pay as long as they receive a high quality service in return". It recommends alternative funding models should be investigated and that the "levying of tolls should be part of a holistic approach to road financing and has a role to play in a province such as Gauteng".

Issued on behalf of the Department of Transport and Sanral.