Could toll fees on the North-South Expressway reach 3,400 VND/km?

The projected toll for the North-South expressway upon opening is 1,500 VND/km, then increasing by 200-300 VND every 2-3 years, with the highest rate reaching 3,400 VND/km.

Presenting the pre-feasibility study report on the investment project to build several sections of the North-South East Expressway in the period 2017-2020 on behalf of the Government, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The emphasized that investing in the construction of the North-South East Expressway is necessary and cannot be delayed.

During the group discussion on the North-South expressway project on the afternoon of November 8th, Minister Nguyen Van The expressed his support for the Government's policy of building an expressway axis connecting the country's important economic and political centers to create a breakthrough in socio-economic development.

Dividing things into "blinds" cannot create breakthroughs.

According to Mr. The, any locality that develops high levels of industry, trade, and services will become a developed locality. Conversely, provinces that focus on agriculture will be poorer. However, being poorer does not necessarily mean there is a way out.

Minister Thể stated that, given the difficult budget situation, dividing the "pie" among 63 provinces and cities would make it difficult to achieve breakthroughs. For the country to develop sustainably, with abundant budget resources, wealthy provinces have the capacity to support poorer provinces. To have more money to support poorer provinces, there is no other way than to build expressways to create major economic development arteries. Initially, the most necessary and urgent sections should be selected for construction.

The North-South Expressway is expected to create a major breakthrough in socio-economic development.

Responding to questions from some National Assembly deputies regarding the fact that out of 11 component projects, 3 are entirely public investment projects while the remaining 8 are BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) projects, Minister The stated that for the Cao Bo - Mai Son project, although 15km is short, a 4-lane expressway is necessary to ensure traffic flow between Hanoi, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh exceeds 35,000 vehicles per day and night, increasing to 40,000 vehicles by 2020. Without the expressway, traffic congestion would occur.

This section already has two lanes, so there's no reason not to invest in a four-lane road. However, if it's done as a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) project with toll collection, it will cause resentment because it's an old road that's being rebuilt and then tolls are being collected.

The second public investment project is the Cam Lo - La Son section, aiming for the Ho Chi Minh Highway to Ca Mau Cape to be open to traffic by 2020. However, this section currently lacks an expressway. Therefore, the government agreed to invest in it, but due to limited traffic volume, only two lanes will be constructed, using public investment for 102 km at a cost of over 7,000 billion VND.

The third project is the My Thuan 2 bridge, a special investment of over 5,000 billion VND in public investment to create momentum for the two BOT projects Trung Luong - My Thuan and My Thuan - Can Tho to accelerate progress and be open to traffic by 2020, Mr. The explained.

The highest BOT toll fee is 3,400 VND/km.

Regarding the pricing mechanism, Mr. Nguyen Van The said that the Ministry of Transport is seeking a service pricing mechanism for each project with a 24-year term. Currently, the Government has agreed to propose a closed toll collection system to avoid the situation where open toll collection is used and fees are charged based on the amount of tolls consumed.

Based on the provisions of the Law on Prices, to ensure reasonable compensation for actual production and business costs, and to achieve profits in line with market prices, the service fee for using the North-South expressway is approximately 2,500 VND/standard passenger car (PCU)/km, corresponding to a business period of approximately 24 years and a state capital contribution of approximately 55,000 billion VND for the period 2017-2020, Mr. The explained.

However, according to the Minister of Transport, to ensure reasonable compensation for actual production and business costs, profitability, and suitability to market mechanisms and people's affordability, the Government has set the price at 1,500 VND/km at the time of commissioning. Subsequently, according to the roadmap, the price will increase by 200-300 VND every 2-3 years. The highest toll rate will be 3,400 VND/km.

"The price might seem high now, but 24 years from now, with economic development, collecting 3,400 VND might be too little," Minister The stated, adding that this plan is only capable of mobilizing 70,000 billion VND to build 654 km from now until 2020, in addition to the 55,000 billion VND from the state budget.

According to VOV