'Toll road will hit hard'
2005-10-27
THE Cape Town Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry is strongly opposed to toll roads within the economic catchment area of the City and is not in favour of the plans to toll the N1 and the N2.
Last week the minister of Environmental Affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, gave the environmental go-ahead to the project. Now the final decision lies with the Minister of Transport, Jeff Radebe.
Said Albert Schuitmaker, Director of the Chamber, “There are special circumstances in which toll roads are justified, such as the Du Toit’s Kloof tunnel, but when commuters and local business deliveries are caught up in the net there are unacceptable economic consequences.”
Unless special arrangements were made, commuters will be unfairly penalised. There would also be unintended consequences as motorists will use alternative routes to avoid paying toll fees.
The impact on some businesses would also be severe.
“Many deliveries of goods take place between the various industrial and commercial areas and if we have to add toll fees every time a few spare parts or a case of baked beans is forced to travel down the toll road it will add to the cost of doing business and, in the end, the consumer will have to pay.”
Fears have been expressed about the increased cost of transporting fruit and other produce from towns on the N1 like De Doorns, Worcester and Paarl, to Cape Town.
“When you add toll fees to the high cost of petrol and diesel as well as the fuel levy which the Provincial Government is planning, the consequences will be higher costs and every person and business will feel the impact,” Mr Schuitmaker said.
Improvements to the roads were needed, but the Chamber believed that the best way to finance the improvements would be through a small levy on fuel as this would spread the burden fairly across all areas.
Schuitmaker said the threat of toll roads highlighted the importance of improving commuter rail transport.
“Both the N1 and N2 areas are served by railway lines and by international standards they are well within commuting range. Fast, reliable train services would take some of the pain out of the situation,” he said.
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