New initiative addresses inconsistencies in road user charges

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has called on all member states to submit road information in an effort to determine the level of road user charges. Barney Curtis, executive director of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), says the information received from each state will be incorporated into a model to determine the road user charges for each state. “There has been much debate around these charges as there is such diversity around the charges. South Africa for instance tolls its roads and does not have road user charges, while some countries like Zambia charge $10 per 100km as recommended by the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa). Some countries like Tanzania have increased this amount.” Curtis says in an effort to address these inconsistencies SADC has taken the initiative to produce harmonised levels of road user charges for all member states and this will be done on behalf of Comesa and the East African Community (EAC). The well-known and internationally recognised HDM4 model is being used for the process. “Member states have been asked to supply information about their roads ranging from the distance of paved road to the amount of traffic they handle. This information is then used to establish what each country must charge.” According to Curtis it has not been an easy task, as most countries have to face the harsh reality that they may have been charging more than what they should have been. “All the countries accept the model and its use in calculating the road user charges with their specific information, but they don’t necessarily accept the outcome when it is less than what they are currently charging.” According to Curtis the implementation of road user charges to address critical maintenance on the roads is extremely important. “Africa’s biggest challenge lies in maintaining its road network and the accepted principle is that these charges will be used for the much needed maintenance. Donor money is being used to build roads and to upgrade infrastructure, but the continent struggles to put proper maintenance structures in place. A regionally accepted system of road user charges will address that and give countries the money to be able to continuously upgrade their road networks.” The process towards the objective has been long and difficult, but it is hoped that the recommended levels of charges will be produced and accepted by all member states within a year.