The torment of tolls

There must be a better way of doing things than to impose sudden and drastic rate increases.

COMMENT

The attitude the average Klang Valley dweller has towards tolled highways can perhaps be best described as a resigned tolerance of the reality of life as an urbanite. For most of us, there’s really no running away from tolls. We have to go to work or send our children to school and the only way to make it in time is to use tolled highways. And oh, by the way, the highways are jammed as well; so get up bright and early like those concerned ministers told you to.

Of course, we feel oppressed by the thought of having to make sure we have enough money for tolls to get from one point to another. A common exchange among friends living at opposite ends of the valley, when they’re planning to meet each other, is: “Jauh lah. Toll got or not?” The conversation usually rolls down to a rock-scissors-paper game over the phone to determine who will bite the bullet for the toll or tolls.

The announcement last year that there would be a rate hike this year of at least 100% at several toll gates across the valley and elsewhere has certainly made the oppressive feeling worse. The government knows this, as one can tell from the defensive attitude of several ministers when queried over the topic.

And now, fresh reports have confirmed that Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan (Plus), Link Kedua Malaysia-Singapura, Lebuhraya Shah Alam (Kesas), Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan Hubungan Tengah (Elite), Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP), Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE), Lebuhraya Seremban-Port Dickson (SPDH) and Lebuhraya Pintas Selat Kelang Utara Baru (NNKSB) are up for rate hikes this year.

The government has two options: increase the toll rates in an extremely hostile atmosphere or pay nearly RM600 million to the toll concessionaires. When we speak of the second option, it does sound like the concessionaires are holding the government to ransom, but someone did sign a deal allowing them to increase their rates periodically.

We don’t like it, but the cost of constructing the highway must be recouped, and that means tolls or taxes because another option offered in our semi-private system is a total government takeover of the highways, which would require public funds.

Still, there must be a better way of doing things than to impose sudden and drastic rate increases. The decision is bound to infuriate a public already burdened by taxation and raised fares for nearly all forms of public transport.

One suspects that once the Greater Klang Valley LRT and MRT lines are opened, the toll concessionaires will face pretty heavy competition. Nonetheless, with the spectre of a resurrected Kidex looming on the horizon, the debate over tolled highways will undoubtedly continue.

One thing is for sure: to the public, the arrangement we currently have hardly seems fair. If tolled highways are to remain privately managed, there needs to be greater transparency. We have to be told when a highway has been paid for and for how long the concessionaire is allowed to continue collecting tolls thereafter.

Nevertheless, it does seem that the most sensible option is a government takeover of the tolled highways, though that would present its own set of problems around accountability and profitability.