I-Cube advantage   Company Profile         Facial        IA      OCR  I-Cube Biometric Selector   RECOGNITION  3D FACIAL   faceit  faceit_gen  Discovery    Facial        ID SDK  Verification Facial Verification linked to a PIN CODE   2D biometric facial identification solutions   System Design   Value Prop.   Access control   FRVT    FACEIT      LFA      Accuracy      Technical SPEC      Review  Solutions Roundup  Facial USES  Request Facial CD  APPLICATIONS  SVS CASINO SOLUTIONS  Facial Proposal   I-Cube stadium biometric solution Vertical market application (Casinos, Stadiums, Retail and Mines) REFERENCE SITES:   GENERAL ARTICLES   Clever cameras have your record   facts, features and benefits of Face recognition   Technical explanation of the HNeT technology   License Plate Recognition (LPR) and Facial Verification FOR ESTATE - minQ   PROPOSALS   NESTLE facial OPTIONS:  PDF (1 MB)   Facial VERIFICATION - Card linked to Face presentation PDF (2 MB)   nterest Form Application       USER MANUALS     Start UP Guide   I-CUBE 3D user manual.    FRS Discovery System OCX Control Reference Manual   FANG LPR FRS USER MANUAL    Technology step be step use   DEMO EQUIPMENT I-CUBE Facial Identification FLASH Presentation zip (8 MB)  Face Identification .zip  (17 MB) FACIAL ID, VERIFICATION AND LPR SPEED / ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEM HW FRS SDK OCX: ONLINE DB    SDK  SDK PDF DOCUMENT (40KB)  SDK WORD DOCUMENT (150KB) Interest Form FREE CD's          - Facial

Welcome to I-Cube South Africa's leading provider of License Plate Recognition; Facial Recognition AND Image Analysis

All highways in Gauteng to be tolled by 2009 

All 350km of Gauteng's highways will be tolled by 2009 … if the preliminary work is done in time.

Although it has been suggested the roads could be tolled before the end of the year, it has now emerged that motorists will face toll roads only in 2009.

So says Nazir Alli, head of the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

In addition to the existing road network in the province, seven new toll roads will be built within the next 10 to 15 years.

Many national roads will be upgraded with lanes, bridges and additional sections being built. Amongst these are the controversial PWV 9 which runs parallel to the Ben Schoeman; the PWV 5 which will link the west to the East Rand, and the PWV 13 and 14 which will ensure easier access to Johannesburg International Airport.

Alli said there was a lot of work to be done before the tolls could be implemented.

A tender process to implement the tolls has been started, and advisers will be appointed early next month after evaluation has been completed.

Thereafter, the environmental impact assessment studies will start, probably by August, and these should be completed during September/October. They will include social and economic impact studies, as well as public participation exercises, Alli said.

Once that has been done, all the legislative requirements will have to be complied with, including an Intent to Declare, a process which is not controlled by Sanral, said Alli.

"If there are objections, the whole process could take even longer.

"For instance, we have been battling for approval for seven years to get the toll road built on the Wild Coast. Similarly we have been waiting four years for a toll road in Nelson Mandela, six years for a road in Tsitsikama and five years for one in Winelands. All these have been delayed because of objections. So, if all goes well, we are predicting that all 350km of Gauteng's roads will be tolled by 2009," he said.

Legislation also has to passed, making it an offence to travel on the toll roads without paying.

Alli stressed that the toll roads would not involve plazas of any kind.

"We will not be building even one toll plaza," he said.

Sanral will be using free-flow electronic tolling whereby motorists will not have to stop or slow down at all. A transponder will be affixed to a windscreen of the vehicle, which will be detected by readers placed on poles or street signs at on- and off-ramps. The transponders can be loaded with credit, which can be purchased from various outlets, similar to airtime.

Bus and transport operators, freight vehicles and multi-occupant vehicles, with a minimum of four people, will receive discounts.

Alli said the roads agency was already involved in negotiations with credit and clearing houses on what system will be used, as well as how to track down offenders who do not pay.

Overseas, if people go through tolls and have no credit, they are sent accounts, with interest and penalties, in the post. If these are ignored, the owners will not be able to renew their vehicles' licences until all arrears, penalties and interest, are settled.

"We will have to seek ways to find way to trap unlicensed vehicles," Alli said.

Three different tolling options are being investigated, but have not yet been decided on. The systems are:

nAn open system where a flat rate is paid regardless of distance travelled;

nA closed system where motorists pay only for the distance travelled as currently happens on our freeways; and

nFree-flow directional tolling meaning motorists pay only for travelling in one direction, any distance, within the network.

"Vehicles using the Ben Schoeman are increasing by 7% or 21 000 passenger trips a day each year," said Alli.

"The Gautrain will form part of our integrated transport system, but it is not the only solution.

"New cars will soon be coming in from China and India priced at between R40 000 to R70 000. We cannot stop cars from being on the roads. We have to provide the infrastructure, but we have to make it less attractive for them."
PUBLICATION: The Star
DATED: 19th June 2006

I-Cube provides security and recognition systems in the following industry:

I-Cube.   All rights reserved.  Revised: January 13, 2008 .