How to manage and collect road fees in countries around the world

(Baonghean.vn) - Road toll collection is being implemented in countries around the world at different levels. However, in reality, many countries in Europe have exempted road tolls such as Ukraine, Cyprus, Iceland, Luxembourg, Kosovo...

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1. Singapore

An ERP portal located on a road in Singapore.

Singapore is one of the countries with the most efficient transportation system in the world. Since September 1998, Singapore has put into use the electronic road toll collection system (ERP - Electronic Road Pricing).

This method takes up less space, eliminates all ticket sales staff as before, and has low maintenance costs. Moreover, it limits traffic during rush hours. Accordingly, vehicles entering the center, highways and main traffic routes must pay a fee, especially during rush hours (from 8:30 to 9:30 am).

On average, the fee to be paid through each ERP-attached gate is about 2 Singapore dollars (about 33,000 VND), in which the lowest fee is 0.5 Singapore dollars and the highest fee is 4 Singapore dollars. The fee will change every 30 minutes according to traffic density on the road and every 3 months, the Land Transport Authority of Singapore will check the collected fee once to make reasonable adjustments.

2. You

A tiered charging scheme has been proposed to improve congestion in central London.

The UK capital London also followed Singapore's modern ERP model, implemented in 2013. However, London built different pricing systems for weekdays and weekends, as well as mornings and evenings.

For example, for a standard car, the toll for each gate is around £5.50 (175,000 VND) on weekdays, £4.80 (about 153,000 VND) on weekdays, and drops to £3.80 (about 121,000 VND) in the evening, from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM. Another difference is that the UK offers a 5% discount to car owners who pay in advance via credit card, instead of cash.

3. Spain

There are two types of highways in Spain: toll roads and free roads. Generally, toll roads account for about 20% of the national road network, a relatively low percentage. Road fees are collected at toll booths, with an average rate of about 0.06 euros/km (1,500 VND).

However, the tolls through Spain's tunnels are quite expensive. The tolls through the two tunnels with the highest traffic volume, Cadi and Vallvidrera, are 9.88 euros (about 249,000 VND) and 3.09 euros (about 78,000 VND) respectively.

4. Malaysia

Malaysia applies road tolls collected per vehicle.

Malaysia has introduced a road toll collection system based on the number of vehicles. Since late 2015, Malaysia has been increasing road tolls across the board. The tolls on 18 major highways have increased by 10 sen to 4.7 ringgit (VND 5,7000 to VND 27,000).

In 2010, the Malaysian government introduced a congestion charge, which charges drivers for entering high-traffic areas during peak hours. Those who evade paying the congestion charge face a fine of RM2,000 (US$624) or six months in jail, or both.

5. China

Of the three basic types of road traffic fees, China has applied two types of fees. The first is the road usage fee, in the form of “road maintenance fee” collected per vehicle, which has been changed to the form of “fuel tax” since 2009. The second is the road personal vehicle circulation fee, in the form of “motor vehicle/vehicle usage tax”.

On average, the road toll for a car traveling from Beijing to Shanghai can cost around 600 yuan (more than 2 million VND), more expensive than a one-way ticket on a high-speed train.

Kim Ngoc

(Synthetic)