SANRAL (The South African National Roads Agency Limited) have announced the tolling tariffs to be implemented along 185km of the Gauteng highway. The new tolling system has been a contentious subject with many Gauteng motorists wondering how they will be able to afford their daily commute on the new toll roads. With the system so close to completion, we now at least have some figures and costs to work with, as well as a handy toll calculator to work out just how much further we will have to delve into our wallets.

The toll roads will be setup with tolling gantries which will automatically toll commuters as they drive through. This is done via an e-tag system. Drivers will need to register for an e-tag with SANRAL and load up their account with as much credit they require. As they drive through a gantry their account will automatically be debited based on the distance they have traveled on the toll road multiplied by the cents per km rate. Commuters not using the e-tag system will have their bill posted to the address of the registered vehicle.

There will however be discounts available, these include:

• Using the e-tag (25% discount)

• Discount based on the time of the day the commuter travels through the tolling station.

• Being a registered public transporter (50% discount)

• Frequent user discounts apply to light vehicles and motorbikes but not public transporters

As previously mentioned, the toll calculator that SANRAL have provided is a very useful tool to work out how much the specific routes will set you back.

Click here to access the toll calculator

Initial observations are a little scary. A round trip from the N12 Edenvale to the N1 William Nicol will set you back R38.28. That’s without the e-tag though, with the e-tag discount it comes to R28.71 which is a little better but still rather steep. N1 Soweto to N1 William Nicol return trip comes in at R43.28 without a tag and R32.46 with a tag. Time will tell just how much effect the new tolling system will have on commuters in Gauteng and how congested the alternate routes will be.