M.A. (Public Management and Governance) / The South African road system is managed by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL), which is an agency under the Department of Transport. The main aim of SANRAL is to connect major cities, towns and emerging villages. It has undertaken a project of upgrading and expanding of the road network in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, known as the e-tolling system. It allows for the free flow Electronic Tolling (E-Toll) system and records all vehicles passing through the tollgate without requiring them to stop or slow. A built-in device (tag) is fitted into the overhead gantry system to detect the passing vehicle, which reads an e-tag (if fitted), as well as recording the number plate of the vehicle. A fee for using the road will be charged and paid later from a registered e-toll account, linked to the vehicle user or if no e-tag is present a bill is submitted to the owner. The primary issue associated with the project relates to complaints from various interest groups, political parties and civic organisations regarding public participation in the planning and execution of e-tolling. This has resulted in mass marches and court cases, with the project, consequently undergoing delays, suspension and postponements. The study is, thus, motivated by the foregoing factors in endeavouring to assess the effectiveness of the public participation process in the initial stages of the e-tolling project. The research utilised an exploratory case study method; comprehensively appraising the public participation areas within the e-tolling project of Gauteng. The study employed both documentation reviews and interviews as data collection methods. The research design was predominantly qualitative, however data analysis was undertaken and presented in both qualitative and quantitative evaluations...

E-tolling was recently implemented on roads in Gauteng, South Africa. This gave rise to a great deal of protest by road users and a court battle between the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) and the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance, a body representing road users. The e-tolling system was criticised at various levels and on numerous grounds, some financial and others appearing to be emotional. This thesis attempted to analyse the various grounds for objection against the system, the main goal of the research being to analyse e-tolling in Gauteng to ascertain whether or not the introduction of e-tolling was justified or whether an alternative method of taxation to pay for the upgrading of Gauteng roads would have been more cost-effective. Secondary data in the form of documents from multiple sources was used in the analysis, including an Economic Impact Assessment that was one of the key inputs into the decision to introduce e-tolling. It was found that there are multiple problems plaguing the e-toll system and e-tolling is not the most cost-effective taxation method of paying for Gauteng roads. Using a fuel levy or general tax revenue available to the National Treasury were both found to be more cost-effective methods as they would have achieved the same result (repairing and upgrading specific Gauteng roads), at a cost of R20,0913 billion less than e-tolling. It was suggested that the best taxation method/s to pay for the roads would have been using a fuel levy and general tax revenue as the primary funding methods, with vehicle licensing fees and long distance toll roads as secondary methods to aid the primary methods.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mega projects have fascinated human beings for as long as history can remember. The urge to build something bigger and better than has ever been done before has always been a driving force behind the human race’s relentless pursuit of technological advancement. It is in this vein that mega projects have evolved over time, as methods of construction improved, so did the scale on which people could attempt new projects. The Channel Tunnel between England and France, the Hoover Dam in America and the Millau Viaduct in the French countryside are some of the biggest examples of infrastructure projects in the world and these are all unequivocally, mega projects. Costing at least $ 250 million and incorporating major technological challenges, mega projects continue to inspire and motivate artists and engineers alike. This thesis seeks to expand people’s understanding of the analysis of these mega projects. Mega project analysis is a field that has struggled to differentiate itself ordinary project analysis. The Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) and the associated e-tolling mega project will be analysed in this thesis. The framework for analysis will be provided by the work of Flyvbjerg, Bruzelius and Rothengatter (2003), who seek to analyse mega project success or failure based on three key indicators of economic sustainability, environmental concerns and the effect of public support. This thesis will use the indicators of economic sustainability and the effect of public support to determine whether the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) can be viewed as a failed mega project or not. After an in-depth study of the data and material available, this descriptive and explanatory study shows that the GFIP and associated e-tolling mega project is indeed a failed mega project. This is because it has failed the analysis in both categories of economic sustainability and the effect of public support. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Megaprojekte het al eeue lank die mens gefasineer. Die neiging van die mens om iets groter en beter te maak as wat al ooit gemaak was het nog altyd baie dryfkrag verskaf vir die mens se strewe na tegnologiese verbetering. Dit is met hierdie idee in gedagte dat megaprojekte met tyd verander het, soos wat boumetodes verbeter het, so ook het die grootte van projekte verander wat mense kon aanpak. Die Channel Tonnel tussen Engeland en Frankryk, die Hoover Dam in Amerika en die Millau Brug in die Franse platteland is voorbeelde van die grootste infrastruktuur projekte ter wêreld en hierdie is al drie, sonder enige twyfel, megaprojekte. Teen ‘n koste van ten minste $ 250 miljoen en met grootskaalse tegnologiese uitdaging, hou megaprojekte aan om vir beide kunstenaars en ingenieurs te motiveer en uit te daag. Hierdie tesis poog om mense se kennis van die analise van megaprojekte te verbreed. Megaprojek analise is ‘n veld wat al jare lank sukkel om verskille te bewerkstellig tussen homself en gewone projek analise. Die “Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project” (GFIP) en die verwante e-toll megaprojek sal geanaliseer word in hierdie tesis. Die raamwerk vir analise sal deur Flyvbjerg, Bruzelius en Rothengatter (2003) verskaf word, waar die outeurs poog om megaprojekte se sukses of mislukking te bepaal gebaseer op die sleutel aanwysers van ekonomiese volhoubaarheid, omgewingskwessies en die effek van openbare ondersteuning. Hierdie tesis sal gebruik maak van die ekonomiese volhoubaarheid en openbare ondersteuning aanwysers om te bepaal of die GFIP beskou kan word as a mislukte megaprojek of nie. Na ‘n in-diepte study van die data en materiaal beskikbaar, sal hierdie beskrywende en verduidelikende studie wys dat die GFIP en verwante e-toll megaprojek inderdaad ‘n mislukte megaprojek is, as gevolg daarvan dat die GFIP megaprojek analise aandui dat die megaprojek misluk het in beide die ekonomiese volhoubaarheid en publieke ondersteunings aanwysers.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / The aim of this research report is to analyse the feasibility of Open Road Tolling (ORT) and its development in South Africa through the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP). ORT represents the next generation of Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) and this research report will assess to what extent the GFIP scheme is in line with other comparable tolling schemes; and is the institutional environment amenable to ORT. This will allow one to gauge the feasibility of the scheme and its potential for acceptability and success. The research report outlines the number of risks that come with an ORT scheme and these include amongst others collection risk, enforcement, technology, privacy and public acceptance. The success of the GFIP will largely be determined by how well these risks are mitigated and how the benefits can be marketed to the users. The literature review illustrates that whether road pricing schemes have failed to move forward, have been implemented, are currently under development, or still in the planning stage as a concept there are several consistent lessons and critical success factors one should apply when structuring a scheme. In the discussions with stakeholders, the following conclusions with regards to the feasibility of ORT and its development in South Africa were as follows: The factors which need to be addressed include political risk, effective marketing of the scheme to the public, obtaining political will and support, building trust between the scheme developer and the user, managing perceptions and acknowledgement of the fact that the scheme will need to prove itself over time. Inadequate demonstration of equity for the user along with poor communication would compromise public acceptance and the success of the scheme. Incorporating interoperability yields benefits in terms in terms of network externalities, the ability to use a single transponder for multiple tolling plazas and points, along with the potential for alternative uses for the transponder. ORT as a viable solution for the GFIP is feasible from a technical point in that it's the only way in which one can collect tolls from a high volume network and not cause disruptions in the flow of traffic. However, there are a number of persistent residual risks that SANRAL cannot entirely mitigate and some fall under the realm of political risk. While SANRAL has applied best practice principles in structuring the GFIP with the aim of providing value for money for the user and as far as possible tackling the issue of affordability, there are certain realities, such as the recent global financial crisis, the infrastructure backlog of the country, users paying for roads which were free and challenges with overall service delivery which place a strain on the legitimacy of the GFIP ORT scheme.

M.Phil. (Engineering Management) / The daunting peak-hour traffic periods have affected Gauteng road users and the economy due to traffic congestion in the recent years. A total of 157 000 vehicles used the Gauteng freeway network each day in 2006, which went up to approximately 200 000 in 2011. This means that the average growth in traffic volumes had grown on average by 7% between 2006 and 2011. As a management strategy, The South African National Road Agency (SANRAL) launched the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) in 2007 to improve the infrastructural network. The introduction of the GFIP road-user charging scheme in Gauteng has been followed by a renewed interest in the subject of urban road tolling both by practitioners and academics ...