Lobby groups call for fuel levy as alternative to road tolling

20 Feb 2012

The government is seeking a balance between funding road infrastructure from a combination of direct payments from the National Treasury and funds generated from methods that rely on the user-pays method such as tolling, Department of Transport director-general George Mahlalela says.

How to get the best blend of these two opposing principles would be central to the outcomes of the road funding summit that is due to take place within the next two months, Mahlalela said in an interview this week.

Urban tolling, which has been at the centre of the storm surrounding the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, has been "problematic" because, unlike long-distance tolling projects, it has "a direct impact on the disposable income for users", Mahlalela said.

An alternative to urban tolling advocated by business groupings and some civil society organisations is the creation of a ring-fenced road- building fund that would be financed by targeted taxes collected through fuel sales.

Independent transport analyst Andrew Marsay warned this week that if the government decided to abandon tolling on the freeways in Gauteng, it would risk undermining its efforts to develop effective public transport in the province.

Increasing costs a concern

Diverting scarce resources from the National Treasury to make road use free would undermine the government's efforts to accelerate the development of public transport such as bus rapid transit systems, Marsay said.

Earlier this year, the Gautrain Management Agency warned that if tolls between Johannesburg and Pretoria were scrapped, the Gauteng provincial government would be forced to pay subsidies to the Bombela Concession Company - the operator of the Gautrain - for longer than originally planned.

The Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association has been lobbying the new board of the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) - implementer of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project - to press the government to increase the fuel levy by an additional 25c/l to create a ring-fenced, dedicated road infrastructure fund.

The vehicle rental and leasing association was "very concerned about the increasing costs and administrative burden associated with the proposed" toll funding model, the association's spokesman, Paul Pauwen, said in an e-mailed response to questions.

"When presenting to the new Sanral board earlier this month, we indicated support for an increased national fuel levy to fund some of the key strategic transport infrastructure projects, subject to the necessary transparency, oversight and stakeholder involvement," Pauwen said.

Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge

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