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Question of the Day: What's the most interesting small town you've visited in South Africa?
Smart roads
- Thread starter rpm
- Start date
km2
Expert Member
The more fibre the better! Isn't this the same kind of way that iBurst got started, by pigging-backing on the National Lotteries spare capacity?
Hopefully someone can take advantage of this and we can get some real FTTH going.
Hopefully someone can take advantage of this and we can get some real FTTH going.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Oh great! More ways for the government to take my money. So what I used to pay Telkom in excessive fees I will now pay directly to the government. What's next? A tax on air?
/rant
Yup... the bastards broke the water mains and thousands of liters of water (took over 6 hours before it was fixed) went into the road. I lost traction on the road and almost skidded into a Merc... so yeah I noticed it!
/end rant
Damn... more road tolling systems? I'm going to get myself a chopper... Should be cheaper in the long run. How do they expect to get our road infrastructure into 2010 if they can't even do a road upgrade/extension properly?
Well, how else did you expect them to finance the upgrades currently in progress?
stoke
Honorary Master
I still cannot believe that they are going to tax you for using the roads that your tax money built.
Strangely enough, an area-wide petrol and diesel tax system could have achieved the same results, with far less overhead, but, I suppose this was scrapped because it unfairly punishes the taxi industry, and anybody else to whom a concessionary toll-tag could be given to.
I am assuming that the TAXI's will not be charged tollgate fee's, obviously, cos they'll all just say no, and demonstrate their stubbornness willingly.
There is a chance that the road users will be forced to make plans to save themselves some money, by forming lift clubs. But, mostly, this extra cost will be fed back into the economy because the employee's will demand a raise to cover this new cost.
Moving closer to work is almost impossible because you simply cannot sell your property no matter how hard you try, and usually, a household has at least 2 working people in it, at different places.
Then there's the admin involved in setting this all up, standing in queue's to get your tag and paying e-natis fee's for the privilege. I wonder how much money (per transaction) the computer system controlling these transactions will be making, and which BEE company will be getting the happy cash from that.
I also wonder if there was any forethought put into ensuring that the controllers of this system could be replaced once a year, using the tender system, to prevent blatant profiteering, or even sneaky and underhanded profiteering.
This system is going to be used to try to make more money from speeders, because your right to pass through a toll gate is now going to be affected by your unpaid fines. They will add unpaid fines to your toll-gate bill, and you'll be oh so tempted to just pay the damn fines to get rid of them, guilty or not.
Not to mention the fact that this system will do nothing to alleviate the burden on the existing road infrastructure. It will make a lot of people stuck in traffic even more unhappy though, and cost a fortune in more toll-gate booth construction.
Here in KZN, the cost of one toll-gate building to extend an existing one was at R1.3m, and it involves the tarred section expansion, a concrete block for a roof, that tiny booth that we all know so well, but excludes the electronics.
Oh, this will also create employment for some 140 or so people, yay. Why don't they offer to train teachers for free, and offer to upgrade existing teachers for free so that we can get more education systems rolling?
I still recon that Gauteng as a whole must completely and utterly boycott this system out of principal, and instead insist that education, food generation, product generation and LLU become a priority focus.
Taxing the commuters who drive the economy is downright inflationary and just takes and gives nothing back.
@astrauss : They can finance the upgrades from our tax money, like we pay them to. Your statement is implying that our tax money must not be used to service us. Pfffft.
Strangely enough, an area-wide petrol and diesel tax system could have achieved the same results, with far less overhead, but, I suppose this was scrapped because it unfairly punishes the taxi industry, and anybody else to whom a concessionary toll-tag could be given to.
I am assuming that the TAXI's will not be charged tollgate fee's, obviously, cos they'll all just say no, and demonstrate their stubbornness willingly.
There is a chance that the road users will be forced to make plans to save themselves some money, by forming lift clubs. But, mostly, this extra cost will be fed back into the economy because the employee's will demand a raise to cover this new cost.
Moving closer to work is almost impossible because you simply cannot sell your property no matter how hard you try, and usually, a household has at least 2 working people in it, at different places.
Then there's the admin involved in setting this all up, standing in queue's to get your tag and paying e-natis fee's for the privilege. I wonder how much money (per transaction) the computer system controlling these transactions will be making, and which BEE company will be getting the happy cash from that.
I also wonder if there was any forethought put into ensuring that the controllers of this system could be replaced once a year, using the tender system, to prevent blatant profiteering, or even sneaky and underhanded profiteering.
This system is going to be used to try to make more money from speeders, because your right to pass through a toll gate is now going to be affected by your unpaid fines. They will add unpaid fines to your toll-gate bill, and you'll be oh so tempted to just pay the damn fines to get rid of them, guilty or not.
Not to mention the fact that this system will do nothing to alleviate the burden on the existing road infrastructure. It will make a lot of people stuck in traffic even more unhappy though, and cost a fortune in more toll-gate booth construction.
Here in KZN, the cost of one toll-gate building to extend an existing one was at R1.3m, and it involves the tarred section expansion, a concrete block for a roof, that tiny booth that we all know so well, but excludes the electronics.
Oh, this will also create employment for some 140 or so people, yay. Why don't they offer to train teachers for free, and offer to upgrade existing teachers for free so that we can get more education systems rolling?
I still recon that Gauteng as a whole must completely and utterly boycott this system out of principal, and instead insist that education, food generation, product generation and LLU become a priority focus.
Taxing the commuters who drive the economy is downright inflationary and just takes and gives nothing back.
@astrauss : They can finance the upgrades from our tax money, like we pay them to. Your statement is implying that our tax money must not be used to service us. Pfffft.
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The goverment is selling off alot of our roads to foreign companies. Who's responsability it is to maintain. They don't need to put up toll gates, its an investment.
If you drive on their roads you pay tax. Simple as that.
stoke
Honorary Master
WHAT? The governmint is selling off our roads?
WHAT?
Tweak.
You has proof of this? I know they tender for maintenance, but selling our roads is criminal.
I know the toll gate act allowed for the sale of "road to be built" where an alternative was already in place. But selling existing road was a no no.
WHAT?
Tweak.
You has proof of this? I know they tender for maintenance, but selling our roads is criminal.
I know the toll gate act allowed for the sale of "road to be built" where an alternative was already in place. But selling existing road was a no no.
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Our employers are not in any way responsible for where we live, so transport costs are our own to cover (ie the new tolling system to be put in place between Jhb and Pta).
They are already using our taxes to pay for the road upgrades but they are constantly running out of money. Yet in other sectors they have an excess of money... I think the government should take a look at how much money each department gets and needs...
YelloFever
MTN Company Representative
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2006
- Messages
- 4,569
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- 0
Smart roads are great. I wonder when we are going to get smart politicians?
It's a sad day when your infrastructure has more intelligence than your government.
It's a sad day when your infrastructure has more intelligence than your government.
Sigh ... this isn't going to work. TIA
What's going to stop people driving with false number plates or no number plates?
If it means saving a few hundred a month nearly everyone is going to jump on the "no pay" bandwagon.
kaspaas
Expert Member
I notice they want to toll "unregistered" vehicles by number plate - sending an invoice if you don't pay up fast enough.
I see a massive market for fraudulent number plating syndicates opening up.
I see a massive market for fraudulent number plating syndicates opening up.
Man these smart toll gates are everywhere in the states... u cant take a freeway without hitting atleast 3. I suppose thats why they have amazing roads. If the quality of the roads reflect the need for a toll gate then its a good idea, ie incorporate some future planning, etc.
And the extra bandwidth floating around will be great.
And the extra bandwidth floating around will be great.
durbandave
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2006
- Messages
- 856
- Reaction score
- 8
Number plate system
How are they going to send the bills for this number plate system.
Traffic fines based on camera number plate recognition often only arrive about 7 months after the event, or not all all.
This means the same will happen with the tolls.
Soon they will be sending out warrant of arrests for this too.
How are they going to send the bills for this number plate system.
Traffic fines based on camera number plate recognition often only arrive about 7 months after the event, or not all all.
This means the same will happen with the tolls.
Soon they will be sending out warrant of arrests for this too.
Stockholm syndrome
The LAST thing South Africa needs is another government department getting competitively involved in information infrastructure provision. Offer duct access. Fabulous. Offer dark fibre access. Also good. But providing competitive services? The City of Stockholm is an better model to emulate for government investment in information infrastructure.
The LAST thing South Africa needs is another government department getting competitively involved in information infrastructure provision. Offer duct access. Fabulous. Offer dark fibre access. Also good. But providing competitive services? The City of Stockholm is an better model to emulate for government investment in information infrastructure.
semiautomatix
Honorary Master
Its also intended to reduce reliance on the highways, if you drive on the N1 you'll understand. Unfortunately this will probably put a lot of pressure on my back roads.
sunsoffun
Expert Member
please bend over....