News from The Star on the toll increase in KL......
Government has little option but to allow rise in toll rates
IT’S bad news for city folks. They will have to pay higher toll rates for five highways around the capital from Jan 1.
No matter how the Government would want to mitigate the increase, it surely is a New Year present city folks can do without.
The hardest hit will be users of the Damansara-Puchong highway, where the increase will be 60 sen, to RM1.60.
The increase in toll rates will certainly lead to much unhappiness among commuters, who already have to cope with the rising cost of living.
But the fact is that the Government has little option. It may sound harsh but consumers must pay for the facilities they use.
Under the toll concession agreements approved in the 1990s, the Government has to reimburse the operators if traffic volumes and revenues fall short of the projections.
Many of us like to think that toll operators are walking away with piles of gold, but the reality is otherwise.
The other reality, which many of us are not aware of, is that highway users are heavily subsidised.
The affected toll operators are not making excessive profits, as some of us would imagine, because detailed analyses showed a 20% drop in traffic projection.
Heavier traffic volume along certain tolled highways need not necessarily mean higher collection because there are escape routes, which most of us are aware of.
Motorists are also not paying the full toll rate. Take for example, the 40km Damansara-Puchong highway. By right, the real toll should be RM2.10 on Jan 1 but a 50 sen subsidy for users is keeping the amount lower.
In short, the Government has to fork out RM2.06bil each year until 2010 to keep toll rates affordable to users.
That’s a huge amount and certainly which can be used for other socio-economic projects such as the construction of schools, public transport and hospitals. But the political reality is that we expect the Government to make it less painful for us.
The principle of burden sharing is being applied here and certainly we have to accept that as we improve the network of highways, the financial costs will increase.
Many may not believe that our highways are better than those in parts of Britain and the United States.
In many countries such as Indonesia, China and the Philippines, there is no such thing as subsidy for highway users. Motorists just have to pay for the use of these facilities.
The Jan 1 toll increase does not apply to the North-South Expressway operated by Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan.
Increasing road tax, an option suggested by some, would be unfair to non-users of the highways, particularly those outside Kuala Lumpur.
A staggered increase would mean little because at the end of the day, the same amount would still have to be applied. That is the legal contract that has bound the Government.
That aside, it cannot be denied that the construction of these highways has led to economic growth in residential and commercial areas along these highways.
It has made travelling easier and faster. Certainly, there is value for money for road users in the capital.
But as commuters pay more, they have a right to ask for better service. We would like to see shorter queues at toll gates and this can be done by offering good discounts for the use of the Smart Tag transponder.
Such a steep increase in toll prices in KL will definitely cause a lot of inconveniences and burden to Malaysians. Many things ranging from petrol, water to toll increase in prices this year and does our government ever consider making a policy to increase our salary... has the government ever think about the low-income family?
Our work minister said in the television yesterday night, that people can share a car and that would be cheaper and will avoid traffic jam.. but, try going to for example LDP, you pay an expensive toll and still queue at toll gates and stuck in traffic jam before you can reach your destination. Sharing cars, how are we going to do so if most people stay far from one another and may work in different places. Please do not compare our toll prices with other countries. Comparison does not do anything, actions should speak louder!
