E-Tolls go live - 3 December 2013

[Tommy Transalp]

So they want to get some more tags sold. Once you register, they have you when you get to GP:

Durban - KwaZulu-Natal is set to have electronic tolling on the N2 and the N3 by November this year, the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) revealed on Wednesday.

Unlike in Gauteng it would not be an additional toll but simply an alternative means of collecting existing tolls, Sanral KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State regional manager Logashri Sewnarain said.

The e-tolling system would be implemented at the existing Mariannhill Toll Plaza on the N3 and on the N2 at the Oribi Toll Plaza near Port Shepstone.

"It must be remembered that it's not an additional toll," she said.

The current method of paying tolls at booths at Oribi and Mariannhill would be maintained but additional lanes would be added and vehicles would be able to go through the new e-toll lanes at a speed of about 40km/h.

She said the booms in the e-toll lanes would not automatically open for vehicles without e-tags.

Vehicles without e-tags would still have to drive through the traditional booths and pay their money or present a card to the cashiers.

More than 100 000 vehicles used the N3 daily and implementing an e-tolling system would improve traffic flow.

"The manual toll booths can process between 200 and 300 vehicles an hour where as up to 700 vehicles an hour can pass through using e-tags," she said.

Only way to improve traffic flow is by REMOVING the tollgates altogether!

[RobC]

So they want to get some more tags sold. Once you register, they have you when you get to GP:

Durban - KwaZulu-Natal is set to have electronic tolling on the N2 and the N3 by November this year, the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) revealed on Wednesday.

Unlike in Gauteng it would not be an additional toll but simply an alternative means of collecting existing tolls, Sanral KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State regional manager Logashri Sewnarain said.

The e-tolling system would be implemented at the existing Mariannhill Toll Plaza on the N3 and on the N2 at the Oribi Toll Plaza near Port Shepstone.

"It must be remembered that it's not an additional toll," she said.

The current method of paying tolls at booths at Oribi and Mariannhill would be maintained but additional lanes would be added and vehicles would be able to go through the new e-toll lanes at a speed of about 40km/h.

She said the booms in the e-toll lanes would not automatically open for vehicles without e-tags.

Vehicles without e-tags would still have to drive through the traditional booths and pay their money or present a card to the cashiers.

More than 100 000 vehicles used the N3 daily and implementing an e-tolling system would improve traffic flow.

"The manual toll booths can process between 200 and 300 vehicles an hour where as up to 700 vehicles an hour can pass through using e-tags," she said.

Only way to improve traffic flow is by REMOVING the tollgates altogether!

I have said it before... the common sense is weak in this lot. 

[wiledog_X]

any 'Dogs been pulled over at these Scumral roadblocks?

https://www.facebook.com/outasa/posts/730482760338068:0

From OUTA:
“We have received reports from our members that these roadblocks are being set up at the Rigel, Allandale, Malibongwe and Atlas Road offramps. They are allegedly there to do checks on roadworthiness, but at the Atlas Road one – I am just awaiting affidavits to confirm this – but we have been told that the officers have been asking everyone for their name, ID numbers and reasons why they don’t have an e-tag,” Dembovsky said.
He added: “We have no problem with any kind of enforcement of traffic laws, but when it becomes intimidation, that’s a different story.”
Dembovsky said the Gauteng Traffic Police was a unit which fell under the Gauteng Department of Community Safety, and had taken over from the National Traffic Police unit sometime last year before e-tolling was implemented. The unit was contracted by Sanral to police the tolled highways.
According to JPSA member reports, the roadblocks were all accompanied by the presence of a large vehicle clearly marked with the e-toll logo.
“There is absolutely no need for that, other than to scare people. It’s sad that we’re having this kind of psychological warfare waged on motorists,” he said."

[PierreO]

Ongelukkig nog nie

[punisher]

I wonder if the SCUMRAL obtained the proper permits to obstruct an emergency yellow marking in that way with their vehicles , and I am sure there is a permit required to have your adverts displayed at an official traffic control point ( road block). I know for a fact they don't need permits to be stupid theiving c@nts

[Tommy Transalp]

Looks like the last desperation move on behalf of Scamral!
Listening to Radio 702 , and all the bullshit stories the "officials" are telling, appears that the resistance of the motoring public at large, is starting to make its self felt in the thieve's pockets! Now they are attempting intimidation tactics   If they don't have a commanding officer with a warrant at the roadblock, it's ILLEGAL!

[alanB]

Potentially good news?

Gauteng set to reconsider e-tolls

June 15 2014 at 09:34am
By CANDICE BAILEY

Comment on this story
iol news pic si gauteng transport
INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
In light of major objections to e-tolls, future funding models for highways may include a fuel levy and a provincial tax, says Gauteng Roads and Transport MEC Ismail Vadi. Picture: Nokuthula Mbatha
Related Stories
Joburg roadblocks 'not about e-tolls'
Sanral ads ARE misleading: ASA
Sanral stands by e-toll numbers
Johannesburg - Moves are afoot to possibly scrap the use of e-tolls to fund the cost of building highways in the province in the future.

And although the idea has not yet been completely canned, initial indications are that the Gauteng government has heeded the dissatisfaction of motorists.

Gauteng Transport MEC Ismail Vadi told The Sunday Independent this week that they were taking a “second look at the matter”.

“We have had long discussions in the ANC Gauteng and in government. Phase one is done and we are working towards settling the debt. There is still dissatisfaction with the funding model. We are taking a second look at the matter,” said Vadi.

Just over 35 percent of road users who drive through gantries are paying their bills.

According to Transport Minister Dipuo Peters, less than 10 percent of the R543 million invoice that was transferred to the SA National Roads Agency Limited’s violations processing centre was recovered.

Vadi said that while there was a need to expand and upgrade our road infrastructure and expand our road network “for future infrastructure funding, we are looking at what our other options are”.

“E-tolls still remain a valid option but there are also discussions about a provincial fuel levy or a provincial tax or shadow tolling.”

He said the government would not scrap the e-tolls as it still considers them an important infrastructure.

Vadi’s statements come as Sanral’s publicised figures of having sold 1.2 million tags are undergoing independent auditing.

“There will be no review of phase one of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. Those are fantastic highways which have done wonders in easing traffic congestion but for phase two we will look at our options.”

Vadi is the only MEC who was retained in the same portfolio.

It means that things such as the Integrated Transport Master Plan 25 (ITMP25) – one of the brainchildren of his last term as transport MEC – are still on the table.

The ITMP25 is an ambitious 25-year transport plan which proposes a redesign in the public transport system.

In this plan rail will become the most important form of public transport in the long term, followed by the BRT system, then secondary buses and taxis within the municipalities.

“It was formally approved as the policy document of the Department of Transport and now the plan is to break down the 25-year plan into five-year workable units to look at what we focus on in this administration,” said Vadi.

His immediate game changer, as he calls it, is to get public transport on a better footing.

In Joburg the first two phases of the Rea Vaya have already been rolled out. Tshwane is in the construction phase of its A Re Yeng bus system while Ekurhuleni is still lagging behind and has just launched its project.

The first real roll-out in Ekurhuleni will only be evident in 18 to 24 months, said Vadi.

“It is a vast BRT network and it will give us a great footprint in public transport.”

He said the department had learnt many lessons from the first bus rapid transport system in Joburg, which experienced several delays.

One of the most important was that effort must be made to get a buy-in from the taxi and bus industries as there is a better chance to avoid conflict.

“The second phase launched with no problems and the indications are that up to 30 000 people are using the system, said Vadi.

Negotiations are under way on the next phase, 1C – Joburg Sandton, Alex – a route that has been plagued by taxi-related violence for many years.

Vadi is in no way oblivious to the violence that has gripped the industry but he believes there should be significant change in the way the taxi industry operates.

“They provide a vital service – 55 percent of commuters use the taxi industry. It may have been higher in the past but there is a declining ridership. They need to consider their business model.

“They need to professionalise and operate on scheduled times and shorter distances. We see a growing but more structured role for them,” he said.

Vadi’s aim is to start engagement with the industry in the next two years. The only challenge, he says, is that there are 180 taxi associations, showing how fragmented the industry is.

“I can’t negotiate with 180 taxi associations.”

In line with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa) rolling stock fleet renewal programme, Gauteng is also placing a strong emphasis on revitalising the Metrorail service – a system that the bulk of the working people in the province use.

Although Vadi was hoping to have the rolling stock purchased at the beginning of next year, Prasa has recently indicated that the rolling stock will only be purchased at the end of next year.

“It has not happened fast enough. I am a bit concerned about that and will be meeting with Prasa to get a sense of urgency. There are a lot of challenges.”

The Metrorail network is outdated and suffers from many problems said Vadi, including cable theft.

There was also the future expansion of the Gautrain by a east-west line.

“The department is currently busy with a pre-feasibility study. Once that is approved, the funding will need to be secured. We are hoping to get this in this administration,” said Vadi.

Like the first Gautrain project, it will take 10 years to complete.

But Vadi pointed out that it was not a given that the train would be a Gautrain.

“The feasibility study may establish that a medium-speed train like the Gautrain is not needed and what is needed is a light-speed train. But the feasibility study will reveal that. The outcome is expected in the next 12 months.”

The good news for Gautrain users is that service hours are being extended – from 5am to 9pm and although fares during peak hours are on the increase, passengers using the train during off peak hours will see their fares reduced by 30 percent.

Vadi also hopes schools will start using the Gautrain on excursions. By far his most ambitious programme is Airport City, which he is planning around the OR Tambo Airport.

A draft master plan is already in the making at the Ekurhuleni municipality, which will see a new city in a 25km radius around the airport.

The key nodal points for the city would be Tembisa, Rhodesfield,and Kempton Park going on to Alberton and nearly reaching Joburg.

“If I told you 40 years ago, Midrand would be a new city, you would have laughed at me. But look at the pace of development between Midrand, Centurion, Pretoria and Johannesburg now.

“There is a lot of business and residential development. It’s not inconceivable if you put in the infrastructure, the development will follow that path.”

According to Vadi, if the last century was about highways, the next one is about airport cities.

The way he sees it is that the current plans will lay the foundation for the province’s 25-year project.

Sunday Independent

Need to keep up the pressure!

I expect the ANC to deny this stringently tomorrow, but the writing's on the wall IMO.

Virtually everyone I bump into says they are not paying and the government can take a hike especially people who dont earn a lot.  A few yuppies I know have capitulated and signed up after intitially saying they wouldnt, but they're mostly people who can get the company to pay for them - which is a cop out IMO. 

[Bundu]

also read this today, but am sceptic, for me it's neither here or there, I don't intend to pay them 1c, without a massive fight and even after that, I'll be ..........................

[Rooikat]

Quite a few comments after the report in the independent. part of the item in Fin24:

"Vadi told the Sunday Independent that: "E-tolls still remain a valid option but there are also discussions about a provincial fuel levy or a provincial tax or shadow tolling."

Dembovsky said that Vadi's comments demonstrated the "monumentally irrational line of thinking being adopted.

"They are now acknowledging that they not only lied to the public then, but that they took no heed of any of the alternative funding models that were put to them," said Dembovsky.

Follow Fin24 on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest."


These idiots are going to persist, but hopefully there are enough of us with brains AND guts to bring this corrupt system down.

[Chili Dog]

Picked this up this morning: See attachment

[PierreO]

Has anybody queried their Sanral bills with the VPC and if so have you received any meaningful feedback from them ? 

[Frog]

Has anybody queried their Sanral bills with the VPC and if so have you received any meaningful feedback from them ? 

I delivered all the documentation requested by them regarding a motorbike riding around with my numberplate but never heard a word from them

[Bundu]

Has anybody queried their Sanral bills with the VPC and if so have you received any meaningful feedback from them ? 

I'll do that when the fuckers take me to court - no way am I spending any time before then to fine tune their admin 

[Koet]

Has anybody queried their Sanral bills with the VPC and if so have you received any meaningful feedback from them ? 

I'll do that when the fuckers take me to court - no way am I spending any time before then to fine tune their admin 

 

[Wild Hearted Son]

702 News this am was reporting that the NPA have allocated senior prosecutors to begin looking at prosecuting E-toll offenders..

looks like the gloves are coming off..

[Martyn]

Noticed SANRAL and Gauteng Traffic Cops holding road blocks at Olifonts & N1S onramp and 14th Ave N1N onramp today, are they trying more scare tactics?

[KiLRoy]

Seems the nazi corrupt fucks are launching their 'final solution' - stand strong SAners. Its our finest hour. 

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Remove-blue-lights-branding-JPSA-20140718

[alanB]

Burn your e-toll bills: Cosatu

July 24 2014 at 09:01pm
By SAPA

Comment on this story
Sanral
Independent Newspapers
A Sanral board shows different e-tag fees in Johannesburg. Photo: Leon Nicholas.
Johannesburg - Motorists in Gauteng must continue to use the highways without paying the e-toll bills, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Thursday.

“We are calling upon our people to continue to defy the system and those who received the bills must burn them,” said Gauteng provincial secretary Dumisani Dakile.

“We will be convening a big burning ceremony in front of the Sanral (SA National Roads Agency Limited) office in due course for the public to bring their bills for us to collectively burn them as part of our defiance campaign.”

Cosatu welcomed the establishment of the review panel by Gauteng premier David Makhura which was tasked to review the impact of the system in the province.

“We think that these efforts to find an amicable solution to the disaster created by the department of transport and its agency Sanral should be afforded a space by all and sundry.”

Dakile said Cosatu also rejected attempts by Sanral and the National Prosecuting Authority to prosecute those who were not registering and not paying the bills.

The labour federation was expanding the fight against e-tolls, regardless of the reprieve announced by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters in Parliament on July 15.

“The minister’s statement unfortunately, however, does not indicate any change in government policy, just a few little ‘concessions’ to try to sugar the pill, in the hope it would encourage a few more people to pay for e-tolls.”

He said Cosatu in Gauteng, the National Taxi Alliance, the SA Council of Churches and the National Association of School Governing Bodies were angry that national government was disrespecting Makhura's decision to appoint an advisory panel to study the effect of e-tolls.

“The department of transport is in effect saying that the panel’s findings will not make the slightest difference to national government policy, that it is business as usual and e-tolls are here to stay anyway.”

Dakile said tolls added to the cost of living of workers and the poor.

“They are already suffering from rising fuel prices and electricity tariffs. Inflation rose by 6.6 percent year-on-year in May 2014, after a 6.1 percent rise in April.

“Food inflation, which hits the poorest hardest, increased by 9.1 percent, including the ever-increasing fuel cost which has a direct impact to the operation cost.”

There was a genuine problem of congestion on the roads, but this would not be solved by forcing people to pay to use the roads.

“The solution has to be improving our public transport services, making them more reliable, accessible, affordable and safe, until they become the best way to travel, which motorists will prefer to use and leave their cars at home.”

Sapa