Sanral confirms 1-million e-tag registrations
Money collected from e-tolling will go towards road maintenance as well as servicing the debt incurred when Sanral built the road infrastructure on Gauteng’s freeways.
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has confirmed that it has reached the milestone of 1-million registered users.
The entity also said it is now sitting with more than 1.2 million e-tags that have been taken up.
“We would like to thank all Gauteng motorists who have responded positively to our call to register their vehicles for e-tolling. We appreciate what they have done and would like to urge other motorists to follow suit in order to enjoy the discounts associated with having an e-tag,” said Mr Vusi Mona, the general manager for communications at Sanral.
“We believe that in spite of the billing challenges emanating from largely unregistered users and the customer service issues at some of our service outlets and call centre, the system is working and motorists are cooperating with us as evidenced in the 30 000 to 45 000 registrations we are seeing per week,” said Mr Mona.
Responding to the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance’s (Outa) claims that its own research indicated that motorists were not taking up e-tags, Mr Mona said Sanral does not know who conducts their research or sampling and how credible their study is.
“Our figures, which like any aspect of our business we report to Parliament such as we did last week, are not based on sampling but on counting actual registered users. Also, ours are subject to being audited by the Auditor General. We do not know who audits Outa’s figures,” said Mr Mona.
Money collected from e-tolling will go towards road maintenance as well as servicing the debt incurred when Sanral built the road infrastructure on Gauteng’s freeways.
According to Sanral motorists who have used the Gauteng e-roads, they have, among other things, enjoyed a less congested road resulting in time saving.
Prior to the construction of the new road infrastructure in Gauteng, the Automobile Association (AA) conducted an independent study which showed that motorists were spending about 40 hours a month sitting in traffic.
“We have ensured that the e-tolling system is complimented by our on-road services. These include Sanral-branded cars on the highways to ensure that if there is an incident or any form of disturbance on the road, they can respond quickly. These quick response times ensure there are no longer prolonged traffic jams on the e-roads as a result of an incident. The services also include quick medical response in the event of an accident on the e-roads,” said Mr Mona.
He added that Sanral also has a high-tech Freeway Management System (FMS) which is integrated with the e-toll system.
The FMS notifies motorists of any accidents on the highway so that they can manage their trips. The system also informs people if they are going to be delayed.
Mr Mona said the agency was thankful to motorists who, even though they are not tagged, are nonetheless paying for their use of the e-roads. The agency hopes these individuals will see the benefits, such as the 48 percent discount, of getting e-tagged.
He added that the agency, together with its service provider the Electronic Toll Company, are responding to the teething challenges and putting in place measures to mitigate them.
