E-tolling fees revealed

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) today revealed the much anticipated tariff and discount structure for the e-tolling system.

E-tolling forms part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP). The 185km of new toll infrastructure will see the N1 to Pretoria, Johannesburg ring roads and the R21 to Pretoria become electronic tolling zones.

Sanral CEO Nazir Alli says the fees are higher than the 50c per kilometre (c/km) indicated in 2007 but this is due to inflation.

Standard light vehicles will be charged 66c/km.

There will be two sets of tariff structures.

One set is the Vehicle Licence Number (VLN) tariff, also referred to as the full posted tariff.

This set is where an account is registered for e-tolling but no e-tag is fitted on the relevant vehicle. Pictures are then taken of the front and back license plates by the gantry equipment to charge the relevant account.

The VLN tariff does not qualify for all applicable discounts and pays additional administration fees.

The other set is the e-toll tag tariff.

Vehicles will be classified in terms of vehicle dimensions, determined from equipment on the toll gantry.

Class A2 vehicles which are light vehicles will be charged 66c/km and motorcycles (A1) will be charged 40c/km.

Toll points are between 5 to 14 km apart (10 km on average), according to Sanral.

E-toll tag users will receive an automatic discount of 25%.

There will be another discount per kilometers traveled, inclusive of VAT.

For class A1 the discounted rate is 30c/km, for A2 49,5 c/km, class B (medium vehicles) is R1,49 /km and class C (heavy) is R2,97 /km.

The ratio between tariffs for class A2: B: C is 1: 3: 6.

There is also a public transport operator discount for qualifying vehicles of 50%.

The time of day discounts are between 5-25% depending on the hours a driver is traveling in, between 15 and 25% on weekends and 25% off all day on a public holiday.

The final type of discount is the frequent user discounts that only Class

A1 and A2 e-toll tag account users qualify for.

It depends on cumulative tolls after all discounts for the calendar month.

The discount for each gantry pass in the categoryR100 - R200 is 2.5%, in the category R200 - R380 it's 7.5%, in the R380 - R550 bracket it's 15%, in the R550 - R700 category it's 25% and in the category of R700 - R830 it's 37,5%.

Drivers accumulating R830 - R940 get a 45% discount and anything higher than R940 gets a 50% discount.

According to Sanral the non-payment of toll tariff will result in levying of administrative fees, levying of fines and/or prosecution in terms of applicable legislation.

“Frequent user discount, e-toll tag discounts and public transport discounts will not be applicable in the case of the non-payment of toll tariffs within the prescribed time period.”

The agency adds that non-payers get a seven day grace period.

From today there is a toll calculator available on Sanral's Web site so drivers can determine estimated monthly toll costs.

Alli explains that each toll gantry represents a section of the freeway network. The toll tariff at the gantry is determined by multiplying the length of this section of road with the c/km tariff.

He adds that Sanral manages a national road network of 16 150 km. 81% are non-toll roads and 19% are toll.

“Due to demands on the national fiscus, Sanral must find alternative revenue sources for projects,” says the CEO.

Motorists can expect to start trying out the e-tolling system on Gauteng's highways from the end of March, with final implementation set to begin from June.

The e-tolling system is an open road, multi-lane toll infrastructure that allows for tolls to be charged without drivers having to stop. There are no physical booths.

“Overhead gantries will be fitted with the toll collection equipment that will recognise the electronic transponder (e-tag) in a vehicle, toll will be deducted from a user's registered e-toll account and they will be able to travel without any disruption,” says Sanral.