E-tolling costs debates rage in Saice's 'lion's den'
The New Age reports that during a South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) panel discussion on all things e-tolling, it became evident that debates about alternative ways of covering the costs of e-tolling incurred by the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) are far from over. The Opposition for Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) chairperson, Wayne Duvenage feared that he was walking into the lion's den "with all these engineers whose projects have all been put on hold (because of Outa's court interdict), but strangely enough, half of the engineers were also against e-tolling."
According to The New Age report, transportation and traffic engineer, economist Dr John Sampson said tolling, which is a tax, was incredibly inefficient and expensive, "there are far better and cheaper ways. Simply add or even take 5c from the fuel levy and dedicate it to funding the GFIP," Sampson said. Dr Malcolm Mitchell, the retired deputy director general in the Department of Transport said that, traditionally, roads have been funded by the treasury and through the fuel levy.
Read the full article on www.thenewage.co.za.
