The social impact of introducing a tolling scheme on a pre-existing urban network: the case of South Africa

Abstract

The paper reviews the merits of the user-pays principle in the context of tolling of a pre-existing urban road network in a developing country. The province of Gauteng in South Africa is used as a case study, in which an open toll road system is proposed for implementation. The project itself, while at terminal stages of operational implementation, was marred by court battles and civil protests that cited, among other things, poor stakeholder consultation, inappropriate transport solution concept, and claims of severe economic and social impact. The paper shows that an indiscriminate implementation of the user-pays principle within the context of urban network tolling is indeed inappropriate. This is demonstrated through the use of more explicit, yet aggregate level, impact analysis of the proposed scheme on households as a function of household income, urban spatial structure, and available mobility choices. It is, for example, shown that only 10% highest income households are able to comfortably absorb the additional costs of transport due to tolls, and that the historical urban spatial structure renders the tolling less appropriate as a mobility management instrument. The paper recommends further research in respect of equitable user-pays principle in the transport sector, as well as the need to seek more comprehensive mobility and access solutions as opposed to purely road infrastructure oriented solutions.