Gauteng’s e-toll gantries may soon receive average speed cameras among a host of other features as part of a larger plan for the future of the controversial tolling project.
The South African National Road Agency (Sanral) has put out a tender for new contractors aimed at acquiring procurement proposals for the operations and maintenance of the province’s road toll project, reported BusinessTech.
While the fate of the e-toll programme is currently still undecided, Sanral’s document proposes a number of new services to be implemented by the tender winners which include:
- Data monetization
- Account-based ticketing
- Enforcing speed over distance violations
- Weigh-in motion enforcement on highways
- Vehicle and driver’s licence issuing or renewal
- Using the Sanral mobile app to manage accounts
- Enabling road users to transact using e-tags on the Transaction Clearing House system
- Assisting the South African Police Service and other enforcement agencies with crime intelligence
These proposed services will be implemented over the course of the next six to eight years, and the tender makes provisions for the project to be extended by another 24 months if need be.
New speed cameras
Sanral’s proposals include using the e-toll gantries to monitor average speed over distance (ASOD) as a form of speeding enforcement.
Average speed cameras track the start and endpoint of vehicles to assess whether a driver is adhering to the road’s speed limit. If a driver is moving above the speed limit, they will reach an endpoint sooner than expected, which will result in an infringement notice being sent.
The tender contractors would be responsible for dealing with the existing fine backlog and developing a system to issue notices and summons, said Sanral.
Sanral has recorded ASOD data using e-toll gantries for years, and it has noted over 12.5 million speeding infringements across all vehicle classes since April 2020.
Sanral app
Sanral is also looking at other possible services, including potential fuel and parking payment solutions using the Sanral mobile app.
“Given the size of the potential market and the impact it could have on aspects such as loyalty, Sanral still has the intent to develop and implement a fuel payment solution, if an appropriate solution can be found,” it said.
The road agency is also exploring the possibility of opening new manned customer service stations to assist with applications for driver and vehicle license renewals.
A resolution to the e-tolling system is currently scheduled to be revealed during the government’s medium term budget policy statement in October.
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