Five government departments began on Monday a one-year long campaign across the country targeted at eliminating illegal toll collections, the People's Daily website reported.
The five government bodies, including the Ministry of Transport (MOT), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Ministry of Supervision, and the State Council, vowed to stop unauthorized tollbooths and close those that are still collecting tolls after their authorized period. Both the media and the public have strongly criticized these illegal practices in recent years.
Meanwhile, the departments also plan to lower unreasonably high tolls in some regions.
In fact, this is not the first time that the government has tried to clear up its chaotic road toll system. Two years ago, a fuel tax was instated, aimed at replacing some road tolls. However, it failed to solve the problem as the cancelled tollbooths revived soon after.
Experts say local governments' determination will be the key factor in the success of the campaign as expressway companies collecting tolls are directly linked to local governments' finances.
Provincial governments to take primary responsibility
Provincial governments will take primary responsibility in this year's campaign to clean up illegal toll booths, said an official with the MOT, which is in charge of the county's road transport.
The detailed plans, to be formulated by provincial transportation departments, will be implemented across the provinces after approval from their local governments, according to Li Hua, an official with the MOT on June 22.
Li also disclosed a time table for the one-year campaign, which will start with an overall investigation lasting from now to the end of the August. The investigation will make clear how many toll roads there are in the country and how long they have charged tolls. The result of the investigation will be announced in September.
After the investigation, local governments will then be given time to introduce reforms themselves between September and December. Next year, the government departments will send teams to check the results and help local governments make corrections.
Expressways pocket windfalls
Some local governments have used expressways and roads as cash machines by illegally extending the authorized period for collecting tolls. Road and bridge companies has continue to be China's most profitable industry in 2009 and 2010, overcoming the financial and property sectors, according to statistics on these companies' annual reports, Chinese media said.
A widely cited example is the expressway heading to the Beijing Capital International Airport. China Daily said the expressway was completed in 1993 with an investment of 1.165 billion yuan (US$180 million), including loans of 765 million yuan.
By 2005, the expressway had collected 3.2 billion yuan in tolls. But the Beijing municipal government decided in 1997, three years after the road started collecting tolls, that the expressway could collect tolls until 2022. It is estimated that the road could collect up to 9 billion yuan more between 2005 to 2022, according to the report.
Improve management of tolls to curb inflation
An official from the Ministry of Finance said that improving the management of toll roads is a necessary measure to curb inflation.
The cost that businesses spent on logistics in 2010 accounted for 18% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is twice higher than developed countries, the Securities Daily reported on June 18, citing statistics from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.
Of the overall cost of transportation, 20%-30% were on toll roads, according to the statistics. The report said that higher logistics costs are a big reason for the higher price of consumer goods.
China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge for inflation， hit 5.5% in May. The National Development and Reform Commission said Thursday it may reach a new high in June.
