Dhaka-Bhanga to be tollway from Friday
The government is going to introduce tolls on Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway from July 1, a move that will push up transport costs.
As per a government circular issued on Sunday, a base toll of Tk 10 per kilometre has been fixed for an interim period.
The toll for a medium-sized truck is considered a base toll, meaning such a vehicle has to pay Tk 550 for using the 55km expressway, apart from paying the toll for Padma Bridge.
However, once the authorities start collecting tolls on the expressway, they will stop collecting tolls for three bridges -- Buriganga Bridge-1, Dhaleshwari Bridge and Arialkha Bridge, officials said.
Although the circular, issued by the Road Transport and Highways Division, did not mention the toll rates for other vehicles, officials said those would be fixed following the Toll Policy-2014.
As per the policy, a bus has to pay 90 percent of the base toll, a minibus 50 percent, a car 25 percent and a motorcycle 5 percent.
In that case, the toll for a bus would be Tk 9 per km, Tk 5 for minibus, Tk 2.5 for car and Tk 0.5 for bike; and thus, the total toll for a bus would be Tk 495, for minibus Tk 275, for car Tk 137.50 and Tk 27.50 for bike for using the 55km expressway.
However, the rates would be fixed soon by roundingthe figure so that people can easily pay the tolls, Sabuj Uddin Khan, additional chief engineer of Roads and Highways Department (RHD), told The Daily Star yesterday.
Currently, a medium-sized truck pays a toll of Tk 2,100 for using the Padma Bridge. The rate is Tk 2,400 for a bus, Tk 750 for a car and Tk 100 for a motorcycle. The bridge was opened to traffic on Sunday following its inauguration by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday.
A truck has to pay about Tk 2,650 for using both the expressway and the bridge, a bus Tk 2,895, a car Tk 888 and a bike Tk 127.50. However, the amount could vary once those figures are rounded by the authorities.
Hasina in March 2020 opened the expressway, officially named as Jatir Pita Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Highway, implemented at a cost of Tk 11,003 crore, making it the country's most expensive road (considering per kilometre expenditure).
The finance ministry in April last year approved Tk 10 as the base toll, proposed by the Road Transport and Highways Division, for an interim period until the opening of the Padma Bridge.
But the RHD early this year proposed four base tolls -- Tk 18.40, Tk 25, Tk 33.71 and Tk 34.70 -- 84 to 250 percent higher than the rate fixed earlier. As the division could not fix the new rate, it will impose the interim rate, sources said.
The Sunday's circular said the base toll of Tk 10 per km has been fixed for an interim period and the authorities will fix the final rate later.
MANUAL TOLL COLLECTION FOR NOW
On June 22, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the proposal to give a joint venture firm, led by Korean Expressway Corporation (KEC), the responsibility of collecting tolls, among others works, on the expressway.
As per the proposal, the authorities have to pay Tk 717.49 crore for maintenance, operation, and collecting tolls on the expressway for next five years.
Sabuj Uddin said they were expecting to sign a contract with the firm within a week. However, the RHD has already given the firm provisional permission for collecting tolls, he added.
Replying to a question, he said the firm will collect tolls manually for now. He hoped that automatic toll collection will start after six months.
He said another joint-venture firm, led by KEC, will collect tolls on Padma Bridge and the automatic toll collection will start around the same time.
The RHD official said tolls for the expressway would be collected at two points -- near Dhaleshwari Bridge and Bhanga. However, there would be four entry and exit points at Abdullahpur, Srinagar, Puliabazar and Maligram and a vehicle would have to pay tolls as per its destination.
Vehicles using two service lanes along the expressway would not have to pay tolls, he added.