The controversial e-tolling system has won an international award for technology, the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“Sanral has just been announced as a winner of an international award for the excellence of its work,” spokesman Vusi Mona said.<\/p>\n
It was awarded the 2013 Toll Excellence Award by the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA), even though e-tolling was not yet operating as anticipated on Gauteng highways.<\/p>\n
The only system in place was the use of e-tags at the N1\/N4 Bakwena toll plazas, which incorporated a manual tolling system.<\/p>\n
Sanral CEO Nazir Alli welcomed the award, saying it “underlined the excellence of the work the agency is doing on the national roads of South Africa, in particular the inter-operability of the e-toll system on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP)”.<\/p>\n
The awards were based on nominations received from IBTTA’s 26 member countries for the categories of technology, customer service, administration, operations and social responsibility.<\/p>\n
Sanral nominated itself in the category, describing its e-tolling system as high-tech and a “world-first”.<\/p>\n
One of the entry requirements was that the project have at least 12 months of proven experience.<\/p>\n
Implementation of the e-tolling system has been delayed by a lengthy court battle, led by the civil society group, Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa).<\/p>\n
The High Court in Pretoria granted Outa leave to appeal its dismissal of the civil group’s application to have e-tolling scrapped, and this will be heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein in September.<\/p>\n
Sanral said it had nonetheless qualified for the award.<\/p>\n
“The Open Road Toll (ORT) system has been running live for over a year, even though toll collection did not commence. Since September 2012, the system has been inter-operable with Bakwena, in other words, running live with electronic toll collection being carried at the Bakwena Toll plazas,” Mona said.<\/p>\n
He said the gantries were gathering data and could calculate how many people were using the roads.<\/p>\n
“Everything that system is meant to do, it is doing. The only thing that is not happening is actual toll collection.”<\/p>\n
According to the entry form on its website, an independent panel of judges evaluated the projects on three criteria.<\/p>\n
These are: the extent to which the project achieved its objectives and the “positive impact for the customer, the agency, and\/or the community”; how relevant and applicable the project was to the tolling industry; and the extent to which the project represented “excellence and an extraordinary achievement” for the relevant toll agency.<\/p>\n
Sanral was asked what positive impact the e-tolling system had had on the community since it was not fully in place.<\/p>\n
“The project has eased traffic congestion on the Gauteng network,” Mona said, referring specifically to the GFIP.<\/p>\n
“Research by the TomTom Congestion Index shows the improved interchanges have relieved traffic congestion in Gauteng and decreased it in comparison to other regions in South Africa.”<\/p>\n
He said because e-tolling did not require vehicles to stop, it would ease motorists’ frustration on the roads and reduce the danger of stopping in less safe areas.<\/p>\n
Sanral warned motorists this week that they needed to get their e-tags and register for payment because e-tolling was “set to start in the near future”.<\/p>\n
The awards would be presented at IBTTA’s annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada, on September 23.<\/p>\n
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