General proceedings - Association mondiale de la Route

Highlights of the presentation:
• Road tolling was introduced to bring in finances from the private sector when there were
Government budgetary constraints.
• Shadow tolling was not sustainable because the toll prices considered only savings in
time and fuel.
• In South Africa, experience showed that to have a fully pledged concession toll road for
30 years, 4,000 vehicles per day minimum was required.
• Political support and commitment are key to successful toll roads.
• Maputo toll road was the first of the 3 rd generation of toll roads and has been operating
successfully since 1997.
• Heavy trucks pay more in road toll than lighter trucks.
• Overloading decreased by 20% under private sector involvement in road tolls.
• The first 5 to 8 years of any toll road are risky and progress is normally slow.
Title: Road Tolls and Road Pricing: Innovative Methods to Charge for the Use of
Road Systems
Author & Presenter: Daphnée Benayoun (pictured), Project Engineer/ Transport
Economist, Louis Berger SAS, France
The presentation was on innovative methods to charge
road users as alternatives to the common source of fuel
taxes, which it is noted, will not to be sufficient to cope
with the growing needs in the long run. Apart from
trying to get revenue to meet the costs of developing
and maintaining roads, other challenges have emerged
that greatly affect the roads sub-sector such as
congestion, road safety and environmental issues. To
tackle these challenges together with the issue of
meeting development and maintenance financial needs for roads, many countries have
resorted to using public private partnerships for toll roads or direct user charging systems.
The presenter focused on three types of road user charging that are Electronic toll collection
systems, Managed lanes and mileage based user charges and Urban tolls. Examples from
around the world were presented including the congestion charging system in central
London, Stockholm, and Singapore that have reduced congestion and optimised transport
demand.
Highlights of the presentation:
• Taxes from fuel are not sufficient to cope with the financial demands for development
and maintenance of roads.
• Direct road user charging is an alternative to fuel taxes to meet financial needs for the
roads.
• Other challenges have emerged such as congestion, road safety and environmental issues
whose mitigation measures carry a cost.
• Introduction of congestion charges to reduce traffic should be coupled with provision of
adequate public transport for commuters.
41