E-tolls 10 times more than fuel levy.
To find out the real difference, don’t trust Sanral – do the sums for yourself, says Brendan Seery.
Johannesburg - Now that the president has given
the go-ahead for e-tolling, the SA National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral)
and its cronies are going all out to convince the public that electronic
collection is so much better than applying a fuel levy to pay for
Gauteng’s improved highways.
Sanral is running a campaign to trash the fuel
levy idea, much of which is misleading or inaccurate. At the same time,
it accuses critics of spreading misinformation and getting their facts
wrong.
So, let’s play the numbers game – something few people have done.
Let’s compare the real-world impact of a fuel levy versus e-tolling on the pockets of ordinary motorists.
The latest Sanral ads cite research done last
year by economist Mike Schussler on behalf of the Road Freight
Association. Schussler calculated that the industry would be better off
paying the toll fees than a fuel levy.
He said a levy would cost an additional R700 million, whereas toll fees would cost R400m.
Schussler’s research apparently related to a
national fuel levy. Given that Gauteng accounts for 60 percent of the
country’s economic activity and that, reasonably, freight operators
would pay 60 percent of that national levy in Gauteng, a Gauteng-only
levy would cost them R420m. This brings the real difference between a
fuel levy and e-tolling a lot closer than Sanral would have you believe.
The government’s budget revenue for 2013/14 is
R985.7 billion (according to economist Kevin Lings, who analysed the
annual budget earlier this year for Stanlib). Of that amount, the fuel
levy accounts for 5.2 percent or about R51.2bn.
The fuel levy is currently R2.12 a litre for
petrol and R1.97 for diesel. Raising that by 10 percent, roughly 20c per
litre (much higher than the level Schussler calculated would be
necessary), will bring in an additional R5bn a year, if applied
nationally.
If applied only in Gauteng (in a “user pays”
scenario), the fuel levy would still generate an extra R3.1bn (60
percent of the national figure). Assuming a generous 5 percent loss to
administration expenses, a Gauteng-only extra fuel levy of 20c a litre
will still generate R2.95bn in revenue, more than enough to pay off the
exorbitant R20bn cost of the roads in 10 years.
Remember that this money could be applied
directly to the debt owed, rather than being sent abroad to pay for the
cost of collection of the tolls.
Now, how will e-tolling affect you and how
might you be affected through a fuel levy of 20c a litre? At first
glance, Sanral’s e-toll charges (with an e-tag) look reasonable: about
15c a kilometre after discounts.
That compares fabulously well with the
outrageous charges on the N3. For example, you will pay R50 to travel
between Villiers and Warden – a saving of 9km over the alternative
route. But when you look at the e-tolls in direct comparison to the fuel
levy, Sanral’s Gauteng charges don’t seem too reasonable at all.
Using the example of someone who commutes from
Joburg to Pretoria to work (N1 14th Avenue to N1 Lynnwood in Pretoria),
e-tolling will cost R450 a month, because that is the cap for light
vehicles.
(You can calculate your own costs by using Sanral’s website – www.sanral.co.za/e-toll/.)
Travelling that route, 130km a day return, five
days a week, 20 days a month, a typical light car will use 208 litres
of fuel at an average 8 litres/100km. Paying 20c a litre extra as a fuel
levy, the motorist will therefore pay an extra R41.60 on the fuel used
to make those journeys.
That’s a difference of over R400. The e-toll
will cost you 10 times what a fuel levy would. You would have to adjust
the fuel levy upwards to more than double the current levy to make
e-tolling cheaper.
That’s something Sanral probably doesn’t want you to think about.
By Brendan Seery
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