Skip to main content

China making plans to boost toll roads

China is considering regulations that would allow road operators to levy a toll on users beyond the current 15 to 30-year limit, according to Bloomberg. The plan would potentially boost an industry that has been plagued by losses as companies struggle to earn enough to cover their debt and operating costs. “The extension of the tolling period can help to woo private investors into highway development,” said Zhu Haibin, chief China economist at JPMorgan Chase in Hong Kong. The plan shows the government’s
August 7, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
China is considering regulations that would allow road operators to levy a toll on users beyond the current 15 to 30-year limit, according to Bloomberg. The plan would potentially boost an industry that has been plagued by losses as companies struggle to earn enough to cover their debt and operating costs.

“The extension of the tolling period can help to woo private investors into highway development,” said Zhu Haibin, chief China economist at JPMorgan Chase in Hong Kong. The plan shows the government’s desire to promote joint government and private-sector projects, he said.

China’s government is trying to avoid incurring massive debt to stimulate the economy, opting instead to inject money into lenders and free up more commercial-bank reserves for lending. Extending toll collection by 10 years would generate $640 billion more revenue, according to Bloomberg’s calculations based on last year’s fee revenue.

Related Content

  • Strike action prompts commuters to try something different
    June 2, 2014
    David Crawford highlights responses to transit disruption on both sides of the Atlantic. Shortly before workers at San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) began a lengthy round of pay and conditions-related strikes in summer 2013, impacting on the daily lives of 400,000 communities, online ridesharing group Avego publicised a new web address: bartstrike.com. By the start of the following week, Avego was encouraging stranded commuters to download its smartphone app by offering them the chance in a raffle
  • Travel restrictions cause ITS professionals' knowledge gap
    February 2, 2012
    Andrew Barriball once again campaigns for senior USDOT officials to see sense and lift some of the restrictions on out-of-state travel for transportation professionals. The ability to attend conferences and exhibitions is not a luxury, he says; it is a valid and cost-effective way of advancing the state of the traffic management art
  • US ushers in reforms with new transportation bill
    November 9, 2012
    On behalf of ITS America, Paul Feenstra maps out implications and opportunities for the ITS industry. A critical milestone was reached last month when the US Congress passed, and President Obama signed, legislation reauthorising the nation’s surface transportation programmes, breaking a nearly three-year log-jam which had stymied critical transportation reforms and delayed much-needed infrastructure projects. The law, numbered P.L. 112-141 but known as MAP-21 (Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century),
  • US FY 2016 budget invests heavily in ITS, infrastructure
    February 3, 2015
    Announcing President Obama’s US$94.7 billion Fiscal Year 2016 budget for the US Department of Transportation, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said, “Our budget proposal lays the foundation for a future where our transportation infrastructure meets the demands of a growing population and an economy that depends on the free flow of freight,” said Secretary Foxx. “This Administration is looking towards the horizon – the future – but to do this we need Congress’ partnership to pass a long-term reauthorisa