Tollway firms may get OK to collect longer

"I don't think drivers like me will welcome the measure because a few days of toll-free operation (in each year) will not substantially affect the operators' profitability, but they now could use this clause to prolong their toll collection time," said Cui Zhe, a white-collar worker in Beijing.

"Those who have vested interests in highway business can use this clause to remove all limitations on their toll collections," said a Sina Weibo microblogger who uses the name Lazy Fly. "Monopoly is money."

"It is difficult to define a proper period of time for highway operators to prolong their toll collection periods because each highway has different conditions," said Zhang Changqing, director of Beijing Jiaotong University's institute of transportation law. "Transport authorities should do cost accounting for each operator before approving them to extend toll collection times."

Zhang Zhuting, a professor specializing in traffic laws with the Management College of the Ministry of Transport, said it is reasonable for some operators who manage expressways with high maintenance costs to be allowed to prolong toll collection periods.

"The maintenance of expressways is much costlier than that of regular highways. If operators are not allowed to collect a certain amount of fees (after the original toll collection span ends), then who will be willing to manage and maintain expressways?

"The key is transportation authorities should work out a specific and clear method to calculate how long operators should be allowed to extend the toll collection period."