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.