The revenue received from the tolling of 185 km of Gauteng freeways will be ring-fenced, says South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) leader Alex van Niekerk.

"The money will be used for the repayment of the debt incurred to complete the GFIP, and for maintaining and operating the upgraded road network," says Van Niekerk.

He adds that the estimated 50c/km-plus toll-fee, as was indicated in 2007, will also be used to pay for the value-added services to become available on the Gauteng road network once tolling kicks in next year April, such as the provision of tow-trucks, improved lighting, as well as standby medical assistance.

The system also has to finance the roll-out of further phases of the GFIP, which Sanral will initiate in 2013.

The current R20-billion freeway project aims to upgrade and expand the road network through, for example, the addition of new lanes on most of Gauteng's existing freeways.

Van Niekerk can not indicate at this stage what revenue the agency is expecting from the toll system.

He says Sanral is still optimising its discount model - discount will be offered to frequent users, for example - and that this model can still affect the projected income.

Kapsch, the Austrian-based company which won the contract to implement and operate the Gauteng tolling system, along with its Cape-based partner, Traffic Management Technologies (TMT), has indicated that it expects receiving remuneration of R4,56-billion for the period of eight years during which it is to manage and maintain the electronic tolling system, as well as for the five-year period during which it is to collect toll fees on behalf of Sanral. However, this figure will be dependent on the number of toll road users, and to what degree motorists will change their driving behaviour to counter toll fees.

Van Niekerk says that the roads agency expects this R4,56-billion "to be less than 20% of the total revenue Sanral will earn over eight years".

2 000 NEW JOBS ON THE CARDS

Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) - the company owned jointly by Kapsch (65%) and TMT (35%) - was awarded the contract, following a tender process, to roll-out and manage GFIP's toll system in October last year.

ETC CEO Salahdin Yacoubi says the company, as a turnkey service provider, is in the process of putting everything in place for the April deadline, including an open-road tolling back office, a transaction clearing house and a violation processing centre.

The contract to procure and integrate all of these systems is valued at R1,3-billion.

The system will not feature any toll-gates, but overhead equipment fixed on gantries that will identify vehicles using their licence plates and transponders fixed to the front windows.

Gantry construction is to start in the next three to four months.

Yacoubi says ETC's work has two legs.

"We will manage the technology and maintain the system for a period of eight years. We are also responsible for revenue collection for five years, with the option for this to be extended to six years."

Yacoubi expects one-million to 1,5-million vehicles to make use of the Gauteng freeway toll system.

He notes that it is important for the GFIP system to be integrated into the country's bigger toll network.

"We have to make sure motorists can also use the GFIP's e-tag, or transponder, on the toll road down to Durban, for example."

Yacoubi says ETC will employ around 2 000 people, with 600 to 700 people of these to work at a dedicated call centre.

Trucks will pay more than cars to use the freeway, and cars more than motorcycles, similar to the scenario on other toll roads.

HOW IT WORKS

Yacoubi says open-road tolling - where there are no toll plazas - is only 15 years old, as its implementation awaited the development of the necessary enabling technologies.

Singapore, Canada, Chile and Australia and Chile have open-road urban toll systems.

Yacoubi says the first step for all users of the Gauteng freeway system is to visit registration points from the end of the year, where they can then register, pay a deposit and receive a transponder to be fixed to the inside of the front window of their car.

"There points will be easily accessible. They will be at shopping malls and petrol stations, for example. We will go to the people, and not wait for them to come to us," notes Yacoubi.

People can also register online.

Motorists will have to top up the funds on their pre-paid transponder account as soon as it starts to run low.

"They will be able to use the website, the call-centre or dedicated kiosks to check their balance and pay money into their account.

"They can also sign set debit orders to their toll accounts."

TOLL EVASION

Yacoubi says toll evasion will either happen because people do not know they have to pay toll - for example, visitors from outside the province - or because they will aim to deliberately avoid payment.

"We believe we can reduce toll evasion to a manageable level, and then keep on reducing this figure."

Evasion in the Chilean urban tolling system has, over time, dropped from 4% to 5%, to the current 2%.

Yacoubi says the system allows for payment before use, but if this does not happen a motorist will be send a bill.

Failure to pay to be followed up by a formal debt collection process, ending in a fine, with administration and toll fees included.