Growing China can afford to change highways to freeways
0 
The funds raised through tolls on 35 operational roads, like the Beijing Airport Expressway and Jinan-Qingdao Highway are as much as 10 times as the cost of construction.
According to the road toll regulations, after the loan of a road is repaid, the time that the authority can keep charging fees could be extended by five years at most.
But the Beijing-Shijiazhuang Highway is planning to continue to charge for as long as 42 years after the road was built.
In the past, we had no roads. Now, we cannot afford or dare not to use the roads. The reasons vary, but the result is the same - people have complaints.
Should we keep the current system, or is it time for roads to be run for the public good?
It's definitely time for roads to go public, regardless of how many other countries still charge tolls. Public opinion clearly favors this: Pay for roads with tax, and let drivers pass for free.
Indeed, the fuel tax introduced in 2009 theoretically includes costs for road maintenance.
And the relevant department has promised to cancel the toll for second-class roads. It will be unreasonable if fees are continually charged for some poor quality roads.
And consider the country's rapid economic development over the last 26 years. In 1984, when the policy of using loans to build roads was introduced, the total tax income of the government was only 129.2 billion yuan ($19.61 billion). In 2010, it was 7.8 trillion yuan ($1.18 trillion).
Times have changed and policies coming out of a particular period should be updated. Today's China has a strong enough economy to change the policy.
The model of using loans for building and repaying them with tolls should be kept to a minimum.
Meanwhile, government investment must be increased, as we move towards a time of free roads.
The author is a commentator with Guangzhou Daily. forum@globaltimes.com.cn
Go to Forum >>0 Comments