Tolls for bridges and roads to rise

The government is working on updating the eight-year-old toll policy to increase revenue collection from vehicles using different highways, roads and bridges around Bangladesh.

Once the policy is finalised, every vehicle will have to pay more than they pay now for using the tolled expressway, highways, regional roads and bridges.

Besides, the toll net will be expanded further, bringing some new and old bridges and roads under the system, according to sources at the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges.

A committee formed by the ministry is halfway to preparing a draft. It has also held several meetings with the stakeholders. Officials said they have been instructed to recommend increased toll amounts keeping the inflation in mind.

However, the revised tolls will be fixed in tolerable amounts to help people and businesses adapt easily amid the global economic crisis that has affected the country’s economy in recent days.

After the new rates come into effect, the cost of operating vehicles using these roads and bridges will increase, which may affect travel, goods transportation cost, prices of daily commodities and other essentials.

Officials said, even though the tolls did not increase in eight years, the maintenance cost and lease amount of roads and bridges have increased three times. So it has become necessary to hike the tolls to meet them.

They also said that the government plans to update the toll rate every year in future as well to keep up with the costs.

Manindra Kishore Majumder, joint secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division’s law wing, told The Business Post, “Since 2014, many things have changed in the roads and communication network. We will incorporate the changes, update provisions, terms and conditions, along with the toll rate adjustment.”

The updated policy will have ways to increase revenue. There will be a balance with other government authorities that collect tolls from other establishments, he added.

In the new policy, there will be an updated list of types of vehicles that get tolls exemptions. 

The discussion on updating Toll Policy 2014 started last year. In December of that year, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) proposed increasing the tolls. The ministry formed the committee this year.

At a meeting in November this year, RHD placed a proposal saying that the widening of the road and bridge lanes are saving both time and energy in transportation. Besides, the lease-out amount has tripled in eight years for the private operators who collect tolls on bridges.

The RHD also proposed collecting tolls from some toll-free roads that have been widened recently. They want to collect tolls from vehicles for using flyovers of the highways as well.

Officials said the draft is already in shape now. The committee will incorporate the opinions of stakeholders and send the draft to the higher authorities.

“We may hold two more meetings on the issue before finalising the draft,” Manindra said.

According to the current policy, the base toll on important highways is Tk 2 per km. If a medium truck travels one kilometre, the toll is Tk 2. The toll for the rest of the vehicles is determined in proportion to the medium truck.

For example, a trailer needs to pay two and a half times the toll of a medium truck, which means, Tk 5 per kilometre. A bus’s toll is 90 per cent of a medium truck which means Tk 1.80 per kilometre.

To use bridges of RHD, ranging from 751 meters to 1,000 metres, the base toll is Tk 400 [medium truck]. For bridges with lengths over 1,000 metres, it needs to pay 125 per cent of the toll which is Tk 500. Bus toll on a bridge of such length is 90 per cent of medium trucks, which is Tk 450.

The base toll for bridges with a length of 201 to 500 metres is Tk 200 while for 501 to 750 metres it is Tk 300.

As per the current policy, the base toll on national highways is TK 1.5 per kilometre. The base toll on regional highways and district roads is Tk 1.50. This policy did not include the expressway as there was no such road in 2014.