The financial burden of national road infrastructure and the equity thereof: A South African perspective

• Main Author: Anton Brits
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AOSIS 2010-11-01
• Series: Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management
• Online Access: https://jtscm.co.za/index.php/jtscm/article/view/10

Economic activities in South Africa during the past decade have caused, inter alia, road traffic congestion to accelerate annually and road infrastructure to deteriorate rapidly. Motor vehicle sales, correlated with economic trends and the economic empowerment of citizens, have and still are increasing at a faster rate than the supply of necessary infrastructure. As such, congestion, especially in the Gauteng area, has reached unacceptable levels during peak hours, necessitating the upgrading and continual maintenance of these roads and other national roads. The financial burden of upgrading and maintaining road infrastructure is enormous and, although the South African government makes contributions, an income from the road infrastructure is necessary to sustain quality infrastructure. However, a road-user paying approach, especially the structure thereof, should be acceptable to society in terms of economic efficiency and various means of equity. This article reviews the relevance of a road-user paying approach as applied in South Africa.