Why toll roads work for you

The toll you pay is used to promote infrastructure and a safer route

Toll roads world-wide operate on the user-pays principle, in other words, road users pay a direct user fee for the portion of the road they utilise. The benefits of toll roads are numerous and, in the case of the N4 toll road, include a well-managed road network that has shortened the travel time from Pretoria to Maputo by at least three hours. Broader payback for South Africa and Mozambique has come from substantial investments in socioeconomic development of the communities along the route, and the wider expansion of industry, commercial business and jobs in the region that has been stimulated by the Maputo Corridor.

How your toll fee is spent

Most of your money is spent on the N4 toll road. In 2010 it cost TRAC about R70 000 per kilometre a month to maintain the toll road, and that amount neither included upgrading or expanding sections of the road nor servicing the debt of its initial construction. TRAC has borrowed R3-billion so far to spend on upgrading the N4 – excluding the R750-million it cost in 2010 to build the 19.7km Nelspruit northern ring road – and will spend at least another R3-billion in the years to come.

To ensure that not a single section of the N4 falls into disrepair, TRAC does routine maintenance such as cutting grass, sealing cracks, repairing fences and potholes , upgrading signage and markings, and keeping guard rails in good condition.

Your toll fees also pay for road rehabilitation, when weather and vehicular pressure on the road damage its surface, as well as any upgrades or expansion of the route, as and when traffic growth demands. Finally, toll fees are spent on paying the equity and debt that were required to create this world-class international corridor.

Who sets toll fees?

Tolls and their annual adjustments were agreed by TRAC and the South African and Mozambican roads agencies, SANRAL and ANE, at the start of the concession contract.

The fees were calculated against the benefit that the toll road would offer road users, compared to an alternative road. The fees were then set at a percentage of the saving. They are adjusted once a year in line with the consumer price index. For detailed information on the different toll fees on the N4, see Toll plazas and fees.

Visit the National Roads Agency website and download the “why toll” Guide to Tolling by SANRAL.