Expressway Tolls or CO2 Reductions: Competing Promises

Written By: guyjin on September 16, 2009 143 Comments

In a classic case of giving with one hand and taking with the other, or perhaps, the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has calculated that the abolishment expressway tolls as promised by the DPJ before the election would lead to an increase in CO2 emissions of some 33%, running diametrically opposite to the DPJ’s other promise to redude CO2 emissions by 25% over 1990 levels… The calculation stems from the assumption that people traveling 200km or more will rely on cars 57.5% more than they do currently, while train and air travel will fall by 10.6% and 4.2% respectively.

Personally, I would love to see the tolls on expressways abolished – even better if it could just be for me (some kind of gold pass or something….)… I’d love to be able to drive around Japan for much cheaper than it costs at the moment. And I do believe that there is some merit in the concept that the abolition of these charges could help to reinvigorate deseperate regional areas. However it seems to me that this is yet another policy where the DPJ, in their haste to be popular and electable, may have been trying a little too hard. I do believe that there is plenty of waste in the system as it stands now for expressway tolls to be abolished if that is a priority. But with so many other major spending programs on the table, some things will need to be cut in the name of prudence. Unless the regional parts of Japan rally to keep this on the table, it could be one of the first promises to go…..

Source: DPJ’s toll-free expressway policy seen boosting CO2 emissions 33%