Expensive toll fees！both legal and illegal！are adding to already high road transportation costs, including expenses such as tires, oil changes, insurance and sewage disposal.
The Beijing Airport Express was built in 1993 with a total investment of 1.2 billion yuan ($186 million).
However, according to its audit report in 2008, the road had cashed in 3.2 billion yuan ($459 million) by 2005, far more than its investment. It is estimated that by 2026 when the charging period ends, the road could make another 9 billion yuan ($1.4 billion).
The company's annual report also revealed that besides collecting tolls, the Airport Express is also responsible for sewage disposal and other tasks which qualify the company for government subsidies every year. As a result, it was awarded HK$141 million ($18 million) in 2010 and HK$142 million ($18 million) in 2009.
Make commercial roads toll-free
The central government has noticed these problems, which have received a great deal of attention in the press. A special clean-up mission was put in to practice on June 20 in order to tackle overcharges, illegal tollbooths and many other problems relating to toll roads.
Spokesman for the Ministry of Transport He Jianzhong also pledged at a news conference in March that 96% of the country's roads will be toll-free in the future.
Yet a report from China International Capital Corporation showed that the possibility of cutting back tolls is quite small, since the investors are highly debt-leveraged firms. If they reduce their tolls, they could face trouble applying for loans from banks and attracting investmen.
Nevertheless, Attorney Li Jinsong said that highways, like indemnificatory apartments, should be partially for public benefit, and that the government should curb the high profit margins, which should not exceed 15%.
"Take the Airport Express for example," said Li. "Its return on investment (ROI) is already very high by now. And given the long charging period, their profits will undoubtedly keep rising."
"Managing commercial roads is a unique operation model in China," said Ou Guoli, Professor of Beijing Jiaotong University, "but the model cannot be applied forever. When the investors have paid off their loans or realized their ROIs, the roads should become public property mainly to provide convenience for people."
"In the future, the tolls should not necessarily be cancelled. For example, in America the intrastate expressways are generally public property with low tolls for maintenance. China should adopt a similar approach," Ou added.
