Toll to push up travel cost

The Dhaka-Mawa expressway is likely to be expensive for all kinds of transports due to having four toll bridges on the 55-kilometre access control highway.
A report prepared by a committee of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has assessed that Tk 20.18 would be the base rate per km for travelling through the expressway from Jatrabari in Dhaka to Panchchor of Jashore district.
The base rate for a medium truck to travel on the 55 km road thus stands at Tk 1,110, according to the assessment.
Sources said the committee estimated the rate after reviewing and adjusting the rates of three toll bridges under the RHD on the basis of the rate recently approved by the Finance Division for the Dhaka Bypass road.
The RHD is implementing the bypass project under public-private partnership (PPP).
They, however, pointed out that the base rate was assessed without the toll rate of the under-construction Padma Multipurpose Bridge that connected both sides of the expressway.
The toll for the Padma Bridge is yet to be finalised and it will be collected by another agency - Bangladesh Bridge Authority, they added.
"As a whole, the traveling cost would not be cheaper," said an official, preferring anonymity. He also informed that estimation of the rate excluded seven flyovers located and constructed under the expressway project.
The RHD collects tolls from Buriganga, Arial Kha Bridge and Dholeswari 1 and 2 bridges located within the country's first and expensive expressway in accordance with basis of its toll policy 2014.
The Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga expressway was built in 2019 with an expenditure of Tk 110.03 billon.
The policy rates per kilometre are Tk 400 for 751metres to 1.0 km bridge and Tk 2.0 for per km highway. The RHD's three bridges are 847.3 metres, 450 metres and 850.2 metres respectively.
Sources said the RHD committee report compared the rates of vehicles included trailer, truck, bus, private car, motorcycle with existing and under-construction toll bridges and roads.
These are Rampur-Amulia-Demra, Mayor Hanif, Dhaka Elevated Expressway and Dhaka Bypass - all these are PPP projects.
Though the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga expressway is a government-owned project, the report found that the proposed rates for the expressway are the highest among all these toll roads and bridges, excepting the Mayor Hanif flyover.
Road Transport Highways Division (RTHD) held a stakeholder meeting on the report findings at the conference room of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges on Sunday, with its secretary Nazrul Islam in the chair.
RTHD officials said the meeting was attended by representatives from the road transport owners, workers and Jatri Kallyan Samity, and formed another committee to review the rates and propose an acceptable toll.
The 16-member committee comprised of members from the Finance Division, representatives of transport owners, workers and passengers would review other issues to make the toll acceptable, deputy secretary Fahmida Hoque Khan told the FE after the meeting.
Secretary general of Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said the meeting also guided the new committee to consider the issues like increased trips and saving fuel cost while fixing the tolls to ensure the interest of the passengers.
The government has planned to introduce toll in all its national highways gradually as its investment on the existing arteries has been increased for introducing access control concept by keeping non-paid service lanes on both sides of the roads for the movement.
According to the plan, the RHD committee was formed on February 13, 2019 after holding several meetings in 2018.

[email protected]