This dissertation is concerned with the financing of roads in terms of public finance economic theory. The theory of public goods is applied to the case of roads and it is concluded that roads possess significant elements of privateness and are therefore nonpure public goods. Given that roads are nonpure public goods, and that the market for roads has natural monopoly characteristics, it is proposed that user charges have a role to play in the financing of roads. Road user charging techniques such as licence fees, fuel levies, tolls, area licensing, parking charges and weight-distance charges are evaluated. The advantages of user charging versus tax earmarking and general fund financing are examined. A road financing system for South Africa is proposed, whereby National roads are financed by user charges, and Provincial and Local roads are financed partly by user charges and partly by general taxes. / Economics and Management Sciences / Thesis (M.Com.)--University of South Africa, 1996.

Consider the problem of maximizing the revenue generated by tolls set on a subset <p>of arcs of a transportation network, where origin-destination flows (commodities) are assigned to shortest paths with respect to the sum of tolls and initial costs. <p>This thesis is concerned with a particular case of the above problem, in which all toll arcs are connected and constitute a path, as occurs on highways. Further, as toll levels are usually computed using the highway entry and exit points, a complete toll subgraph is considered, where each toll arc corresponds to a toll subpath. Two <p>variants of the problem are studied, with or without specific constraints linking together the tolls on the arcs. <p>The problem is modelled as a linear mixed integer program, and proved to be NP-hard. Next, several classes of valid inequalities are proposed, which strengthen important constraints of the initial model. Their efficiency is first shown theoretically, as these are facet defining for the restricted one and two commodity problems. <p>Also, we prove that some of the valid inequalities proposed, together with several <p>constraints of the linear program, provide a complete description of the convex hull <p>of feasible solutions for a single commodity problem. Numerical tests have also been conducted, and highlight the real efficiency of the valid inequalities for the multi-commodity case. Finally, we point out the links between the problem studied in the thesis and a more classical design and pricing problem in economics. /<p><p><p>Considérons le problème qui consiste à maximiser les profits issus de la tarification d’un sous-ensemble d’arcs d’un réseau de transport, où les flots origine-destination (produits) sont affectés aux plus courts chemins par rapport aux tarifs et aux coûts initiaux. Cette thèse porte sur une structure de réseau particulière du problème ci-dessus, dans laquelle tous les arcs tarifables sont connectés et forment un chemin, <p>comme c’est le cas sur une autoroute. Étant donné que les tarifs sont habituellement déterminés selon les points d’entrée et de sortie sur l’autoroute, nous considérons un sous-graphe tarifable complet, où chaque arc correspond en réalité à un sous-chemin. Deux variantes de ce problème sont étudiées, avec ou sans contraintes <p>spécifiques reliant les niveaux de tarifs sur les arcs. <p>Ce problème peut être modélisé comme un programme linéaire mixte entier. Nous prouvons qu’il est <p>NP-difficile. Plusieurs familles d’inégalités valides sont ensuite proposées, celles-ci renforçant certaines contraintes du modèle initial. Leur efficacité est d’abord démontrée de manière théorique, puisqu’il s’agit de facettes <p>des problèmes restreints à un ou deux produits. Certaines des inégalités valides proposées, ainsi que plusieurs contraintes du modèle initial, permettent aussi de donner une description complète de l’enveloppe convexe des solutions réalisables d’un problème restreint à un seul produit. Des tests numériques ont également <p>été menés, et mettent en évidence l’efficacité réelle des inégalités valides pour le problème général à plusieurs produits. Enfin, nous soulignons les liens entre le problème de tarification de réseau étudié dans cette thèse et un problème plus classique de tarification de produits en gestion. <p> / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

M.Comm. / The fundamental purpose of the dissertation was a descriptive analysis and a theoretical evaluation of the petroleum industry and its functions in South Africa, as well as the relevance of toll roads in South Africa. Toll roads provide the opportunity whereby an urgently needed road can be built at an earlier date than would be the case normally. The strategic management of businesses under normal market conditions has been studied extensively. Less importance has been given to the strategic management of businesses affected by external market forces such as quotas, import tariffs, restricted licenses and toll roads. South Africa has more than 200 000 kilometers of roads and more than seven million cars. Therefore demand for petrol has grown substantially over the last few years. There are ten different petroleum companies in South Africa; namely Afric Oil, BP, Caltex, Engen, Exel, Sasol, Shell, Tepco, Total and Zenex and there is no discernible difference between the fuels from the different oil companies. In May 1996, the governments of South Africa and Mozambique announced their vision and their objectives for the Maputo Development Corridor. In particular they expressed their belief that the corridor initiative held substantial opportunities for both the public and private sectors. The Trans African Concession (TRAC) was awarded the concession to develop the corridor. Concession grants the private sector a right to collect tollfees, which are used to service the loans incurred for: designing, construction, operations and maintenance of toll roads in the Maputo Development. The concessioning right usually extends for a period of 30 years after which the road is handed back to the South African National Road Agency. The first of five toll roads opened on the 8 December 1998 between Witbank and Middelburg. Tollfees are collected (R20,60 per car) by Plaza operators, and tariffs are adjusted annually. Toll Roads affect businesses, such as petrol stations, restaurants etc., due to high tollfees. Thereby some motorists use alternative routes. The study focuses on the petroleum industry, and more particularly on the retail of fuel and related products in the Maputo Development Corridor. An external market force in the form of the N3 toll road is affecting this market and industry. Consequently the strategic management of Shell Ultra City Middelburg and other affected businesses have to adapt from the task model to allow for the influence of the toll road. The toll road functions and annually toll tariff adjustments, formed the crux of this study. General strategic considerations are developed in the study to counter the effect of the toll road. Furthermore, a specific action plan is formulated to practically implement these general strategic considerations.