The Dujiakan toll gate, the first toll gate on the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway out of Beijing Photo: CFP

Bai Songpo, an IT engineer in Beijing, travels between Beijing and Shijiazhuang, capital city of North China's Hebei Province, about twice a month for business. He drives along two sections of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway to get to his destinations and pays a total of 200 yuan ($32.62) in toll fees for a round trip.

That means he has to pay 4,800 yuan a year for all the trips between the two cities - at around 300 kilometers for each trip. He receives a travel allowance of 800 yuan each month from his employer for his travel inside Beijing and trips to Shijiazhuang.

"The toll fee is too high. Very often my travel allowance can't cover all my business trips in and out of the cities," Bai said.

Still, Bai is lucky as he at least gets some reimbursement. Bai said one of his friends who lives in Beijing's suburban Fangshan district and works in the downtown has to drive on the Beijing section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway at least five days a week and pays almost 5,000 yuan each year all by himself.

The Beijing section of the expressway is 45.6 kilometers long, starting from Liuliqiao on Beijing's South Third Ring Road. The section has been collecting toll fees since 1987, Beijing Youth Daily reported Sunday.

Toll collection for the section has already lasted for 25 years, but it will continue even though the loans for the road's construction were fully repaid by 2000. The toll rate has also increased to 15 yuan now from initially 2 yuan.

Drivers and some lawmakers have fought for years to get the toll fees for the section removed, but without success.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) vowed to reduce the ratio of toll highways to account for 3 percent of the road network across the country by 2030.

But according to the draft of the MOT's new rules in May, toll collection can be extended based on expenditure required for basic maintenance even if the loans for road construction have been paid off.

Another reasson why toll collection can be extended is in order to compensate for the policy of canceling toll fees during public holidays.

In August 2012, the State Council approved a program to cancel toll fees for passenger cars during major Chinese holidays, which add up to 20 days a year.

"The new rules are nothing other than finding more excuses for extending toll collection indefinitely," Zhao Jian, a transport professor at Beijing Jiaotong University (BJU), told the Global Times Tuesday.

Battle continues

China passed a set of rules for managing highway toll fees in 2004. According to the rules, collection of toll fees for highways operated by local governments was capped at 20 years while for highways operated by companies, the collection of fees should not exceed 30 years.

The rules also stipulated that toll fees must be lifted after the loans for construction of highways operated by local governments are paid off.

But due to insufficient supervision and a lack of transparency, details on toll collection are rarely publicized.

The Beijing section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway was originally operated by the Beijing municipal government, and according to the rules the municipal government could collect toll fees for 20 years until 2007.

But in 1999, 12 years after collection of the toll fees began, the municipal government transferred the operating rights for the section to its newly founded company, Beijing Capital Highway Development Group Co (BCHD).

The duration for toll collection was also recalculated, allowing BCHD, as a new operator, to collect toll fees for a further 30 years from 1999 to 2029.

As early as in 1992, some deputies to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, including deputy Li Shuyuan, had proposed lifting the toll fees for the section.

In 2005, Li asked Beijing Municipal Audit Bureau to audit the section.

The audit bureau issued a report later that year, which showed that the loans and interest for the section had all been paid off by 2000. The report also showed that the section had made a total of 586 million yuan in profit from toll income and share transfer by the end of 2004.

"As long as the loans are paid off, the toll must be removed. The extension of toll collection by BCHD was caused by a lack of supervision," said Li Jinsong, a lawyer at Beijing Yitong Law Firm.

"BCHD said it needed the toll revenue to finance construction of new roads. But this reason simply cannot convince us," Li said.

BCHD did not respond to the Global Times' request for comment by press time.  

Financing model debated

"China should change its model for financing road construction and maintenance to rely on fuel oil tax and vehicle purchase tax," said Zhao, the BJU professor.

China allows road builders, mainly local governments, to collect toll fees in order to pay off bank loans that are needed to fund the roads' construction.

Local governments usually adopt a form of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) financing for highway projects. They get loans from banks to build the roads and after completing the construction, they set up an expressway company to operate the road.

The expressway company collects toll fees and raises funds from its shareholders to repay bank loans and get financing for construction of more new roads.

China also introduced the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, a form of road construction and management in some developed countries, in 1994. Under the model, a private company is chosen through tendering to finance, build and operate a road for a specified period. After that, the road will be transferred to the government for operation.

Due to the lower traffic volume and difficulty of collecting tolls, the BOT form is not popular in China.

The PPP construction model led to a frenzy of highway building in recent years.

By the end of 2012, China had built a total of 96,000 kilometers of highways, the largest highway network in the world.

However, the construction boom also led to a mountain of debt. China has invested a total of 3.65 trillion yuan in building toll fee highways, with 2.32 trillion yuan yet to be paid off, the MOT said in 2012.

"The government faces a dilemma. With toll fees, residents complain about the high price. If the tolls are abolished, traffic congestion will occur and there will be no money to invest in new roads, and people will complain about poor road conditions," said Luo Renjian, a research fellow at the Institute of Comprehensive Transportation under the National Development and Reform Commission.

"Many other countries such as Japan and South Korea also collect highway toll fees. The current toll-based highway system fits China's conditions. The toll fee ensures fairness for those people who do not use the highways, helps regulate traffic volume and brings more cash for building new roads," said Zhang Zhuting, a professor with the Transport Management Institute under the MOT.