Motorists urged to get e-tags MyZA

Motorists without e-tags will pay double the cost per kilometre when the Gauteng e-tolling system goes live on 3 December 2013.

Making the announcement on the implementation date of the Gauteng e-tolling system in Pretoria on Wednesday, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters thanked those who have already registered and have e-tags.

“Today marks yet another milestone in the life of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP). I have further determined that tolling on the designated sections of Gauteng Highways will commence on 3 December 2013.

“We encourage motorists who haven’t registered to do so. Unregistered motorists will be levied almost double the cost per kilometre. You need to register in order to have access to the discounts offered by the South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL),” she said.

Peters said SANRAL should be allowed to start collecting toll fees in order to begin to repay the debt incurred when the roads were upgraded.

“We cannot afford to continue to expose SANRAL’s portfolio to any further financial risks, having suffered two downgrades by international credit rating institutions.”

She said it had been a long road since the day the project to upgrade the road network on some parts of Gauteng’s highways was proclaimed.

Since the first phase of the project was completed, South Africans and Gauteng motorists in particular, have enjoyed the convenience of driving on world class highways, Peters said.

Three-lane roads were expanded to five and six lanes in some instances. A High-Tech Travel Demand Intelligence system was introduced to ensure constant and accurate monitoring of traffic on the e-tolled road network.

The system ensures that officials manning traffic flows from the Operations Centre in Samrand are able to pick up incidents such as car breakdowns and crashes as and when they occur and mobilise the necessary response.

SANRAL introduced the Golden Hour service, where emergency vehicles located in various parts of the highways stand ready to respond timeously to reported incidents on the highways.

This assists in preventing traffic jams and secondary crashes due to vehicles involved in crashes and therefore obstructing traffic.

The system will also contribute to the fight against vehicle cloning because the technology picks up and reads car registration details.

Cost of the project

Peters said the great and world-class initiatives have come at a cost. SANRAL had to approach the markets to raise at least R20 billion to implement the upgrades

“This was due to the inadequacy of resources to respond to what was becoming a ticking time bomb waiting to explode: the ever-growing congestion on the highways, particularly between Pretoria and Johannesburg, was reaching crisis proportions.

“Business, in particular the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had already expressed concern about the impact on business due to congestion and insufficient maintenance,” she said.

Tariffs

Government has made several concessions as part of efforts to minimise the financial burden on the users of the Gauteng e-tolled road network.

Tariffs have been reduced and registered public transport exempted.

“We have moved from 66 cents per kilometre to the current 30 cents for light motor vehicles for registered road users who are in possession of an e-tag.

“This is an indication that indeed this government cares for its people and has listened to the concerns raised by the public,” Peters said. – SAnews.gov.za