CRI听力:Improvements Urged for Toll Road Management

According to the rule revision proposed last week by state transport authorities, the limit on the number of years tolls can be charged on highways is to be removed, allowing local governments to pay off debts incurred in road construction.

The current Toll Road Management Regulation stipulates that tolls can only be charged for between 15 and 30 years, depending on how the road is initially financed.

But the revised version says that for highways needing a longer period to recoup investment, the toll period could be extended beyond 30 years.

This has triggered worries that highways may become permanent cash cows for local governments, and some people are even casting doubt on the government's right to revise the regulation in the first place.

Zhang Zhuting from the Ministry of Transport defends the revision.

"Law and regulation revisions should keep pace with the country's economic development. Our country's laws stipulate that the State Council has the mandate from the National People's Congress to revise regulations according to the status of economic and social development."

A report by the ministry showed that toll collection stood at 365 billion yuan in 2013 while expenditure reached 431 billion yuan, leading to a loss of 66 billion yuan, or about 10 billion US dollars.

The report said the fees collected were mainly used to make principal and interest payments related to construction, with the remainder covering maintenance, taxes and overheads.

Professor Zhang Xiaodong with Beijing Jiaotong University suggests that guidelines for the implementation of the revised rule be issued as soon as possible.

"There should be some detailed guidelines and explanations for the implementation of the revised regulation. Otherwise, different people may have different understandings of the rule, making it difficult for the public to judge whether a fee or a road operator's profit is reasonable."

The professor also urges further disclosure of information.

"The revised version gives full support for the public's right to know toll-related information and stipulates a certain variety of information that should be disclosed. But in my opinion, that's still not enough. People need to evaluate the reasonableness of a fee based on relevant costs. There is no way to do that without the disclosure of the main cost structure."

Zhang Xiaodong says third-party supervisors should also be invited to help monitor expenditures for the planning, design, investment, construction and operation of a road.

The transport ministry has invited the public to give opinions on the revised regulation ahead of August 20.

By the end of last year, the Chinese mainland had 160,000 kilometers of roads charging tolls, including more than 106,000 kilometers of toll expressways.

The total length of the expressways on the mainland is the longest in the world.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.