Free roads may end up choked by traffic jams

By Xiao Zhongren

Free expressways during holidays are good for ordinary workers like me, a regular white-collar worker in Beijing. Besides my annual leave, the only time when I can fully enjoy staying with relatives and friends or traveling is during national holidays.

Every year I drive to Beidaihe, a summer resort not far from Beijing, to enjoy the beach and sunshine there, and the highway toll both ways is around 200 yuan ($31.40). Every two years, I drive to Guangzhou to visit my relatives, and the toll is about 1,700 yuan.

Each time when I pass the toll gate and present a fistful of notes, I really feel anguished.

This is why I am very happy with the government's latest plan for the holiday toll waiver. When the new measure is implemented, it will apparently save me a considerable sum of money.

But there are also problems. The measure encourages middle-income residents like me to choose to go traveling during the four national holidays by driving private cars.

The number of vehicles in China has already reached 114 million, and I cannot stop imagining the horrible road congestion if all these cars show up in streets during holidays. Accidents on the highways will probably be more frequent.

It is already nearly impossible to find somewhere to stop for a toilet break or a cup of coffee. If the new measure is launched, can service areas on the highways cope with a larger passenger flow?

As the holiday waiver will be practiced throughout the nation, it is high time for various levels of governments to put practical plans in place for the changes the new measure may bring.

The new measure seems to only benefit car owners, while people without a car may also demand their own form of compensation.

This seems another headache for the government, as people are arguing that every taxpayer has contributed to the construction of highways.

The short-term waiver is a response to public demand, but it's still relatively limited.

The core of public demands is the total abolition of highway tolls. This needs time, while currently it's more important to solve the problem of arbitrary toll collection and publish the cost and profits of highway operations.

The author is a reporter with China Radio International. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

By Li Lu

Some worry that the plan to lift toll fees will lead to traffic congestion. This is not groundless.

Last summer, Beijing lowered the toll fees for driving to two terminals at Beijing Capital International Airport, and charged nothing for cars heading downtown. The volume of traffic soon hiked by 40 percent, and many complained it was not an "expressway" anymore. However, as a car owner myself, I see the latest plan as much more beneficial than harmful.

It's true that the holiday waiver may have barely any influence on high-end car owners who do not care about tolls. However, for many ordinary car owners, myself included, the plan is very important.

Previously, many Shanghai car owners preferred only to travel in the Yangtze Delta region during holidays. The surrounding regions are crowded with private car drivers like me.

Now I'm already planning to drive from Shanghai to Yunnan Province in Southwest China during the upcoming National Day holiday in October, which previously cost more than 2,000 yuan in road tolls. Between tolls and gas, it was often cheaper to fly.

Highways could be unblocked as private cars become more spread out, rather than clustering around the metropolises. Besides, most highway congestion happens due to queues at toll stations. Canceling tolls will actually facilitate traffic flows.

Public traffic is not something that purely relies on government regulation. The government has to strike a balance between tolls and pressure on traffic networks. But this is bound to be a hard bargain.

In fact, traffic makes its own adjustments. Once the old fee structure has changed, traffic can achieve a new balance after some time has passed.

This has been a quite obvious process on Beijing's airport expressway since last summer.

There are people who favor the free highway, even though it takes longer, but meanwhile, those who prefer a quicker ride would rather pay for other routes.

As the number of cars continues to explode and road trips are increasingly popular, we need to be prepared for some traffic jams if we want our highways to be free.

The author is a freelance writer based in Shanghai. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn

@Yin Junguo

The measure shows that top policymakers have kept a clear mind toward public complaints and have responded to them appropriately. It's worth applause. The toll companies are vested interest groups. The measure, though limited, is a vital step in the process of breaking these companies' monopolies and regionalism.

@Emma

The government has only given back the right we should have enjoyed previously, so there's nothing to cheer for. Only a few highways in Sydney charge, and the fees are low.

Many highways in China have recouped their investment costs from tolls, but still charge heavily. On the other hand, the over-loading of vehicles has caused damage to the highways and generated excessive maintenance fees, which can only be made up by high tolls.

@Yuan Hang

The highways are for public use. China will have the greatest length of highways in the world in a few years.

The current world leader, the US, charges few or no fees, while the tolls in China are still high.

I hope the latest measure will pave the way for a large-scale waiving of tolls or even lead to the complete abolition of highway tolls.

@Sun Haitao

The rate of car ownership in developed countries is higher and people are richer. Therefore, highways are social resources for most people.

But in China, those owning a car only make up a small proportion of the population and they enjoy the use of highways. They ought to take more responsibility for construction and maintenance.