RFA disputes rail’s unfair advantage

LACK OF government funding in road infrastructure has long been a bug-bear of the roadfreight industry. For Gauteng shippers, the issue is of critical relevance, “The number of vehicles on our roads is increasing at a rate of 7% each year,” says Road Freight Association CEO Sharmini Naidoo, “meaning that in effect our vehicle population size will double over ten years. The investment in roads is not commensurate with this growth,” she told FTW. “Government funding for roads in terms of the Road Infrastructure Framework is R5.5 billion, versus R19.2 billion on airports, R16 billion on rail, R7.7 billion for the taxi recapitalisation programme and R1 billion for air traffic control.” She challenges the disproportionately high expenditure on rail when this mode moves only 20% of the freight transported in the country. “The trucking industry has experienced consistent growth for seven years, at a rate of 20% since 2003. In 2006 the market was three times the size of 2000 and in 2007 it is 3 .6 times the size,” she told FTW.