New government in Korea goes for peakhour discounts
Posted Sat, 2008-02-09 13:52
A new government in Korea is fulfilling an election promise to discount commuter tolls 50% in peak hours - a kind of inverse congestion pricing. Cho Kyong-hwan head of the presidential transition team says that tolls on the government owned Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) will be discounted to a half of normal rates 05:00-07:00 and 20:00-22:00 for motorists with transponders, which there go by the brandname 'Hi-pass'. 
A previous government had instituted a 20% discount with more limited hours and only for trips of less than 20km (12 miles).
The government is discussing with private concessionaires how they can extend the scheme to those tollroads.
Commuters apparently are seen as a powerful political constituency, and like many places the politicians see it as their role to turn economics on its head.
Dwaeggi bulgogi - pork in Korean?
Heading for 3,000km
KEC operates 24 tollroads covering 2874km (1,786 miles). With new TRs under construction by 2010 they say they will be operating 4,000km (about 2,500 miles) of toll expressway. KEC and private concessionaires are operating to a plan for a 6,160km grid comprising basically 9 east-west and seven north-south roads. This is designed to make ecverhwere in the country within 30 minutes and the whole country accessible from anywhere else in half a day's driving.
 KEC began in 1969 as an American style government owned toll business named in english rendering Korea Highway Corporation (KHC), taking over two tollroads being built by the Construction Ministry with the responsibility of building a monopoly national network of tollroads. Their slogan was to make anywhere in the country accessible within the day.
Several other tollroads were also built in a huge spurt of initial construction 1967 to 1972.
By the early 1970s 1542km (960 miles) had been built. The first great expressway push was followed by more modest construction mileage. Since 1972 an average of 420km (250miles) a decade has been built.
Most of the system tolls by trip - that is issues tickets on entry for tendering on exit to the toll collector, or registers entries and exits electronically. Cash counts for nearly 50% of transactions, 35% is by proximity cards, 15% by transponder. The system is entirely lane based with gates.
In 1998 the Korean Government moved to encourage built-operate-transfer toll concessions - while continuing to own and develop tollroads with their own government toll authority. Â
Expressway was substituted for Highway in the corporation's name Feb 2007.
KEC is set up with stock as a for-profit company subject to normal commercial law and company tax. Its stock is owned 77% by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, 12% by the Ministry of Finance, 5% by the Export-Import bank and 0.03% by a Kookmin Bank.
KEC's revenue was around $3.2b (KRW3000b) in 2007 and it has 4,350 employees.
TOLLROADSnews 2008-02-09
A new government in Korea is fulfilling an election promise to discount commuter tolls 50% in peak hours - a kind of inverse congestion pricing. Cho Kyong-hwan head of the presidential transition team says that tolls on the government owned Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) will be discounted to a half of normal rates 05:00-07:00 and 20:00-22:00 for motorists with transponders, which there go by the brandname 'Hi-pass'. A previous government had instituted a 20% discount with more limited hours and only for trips of less than 20km (12 miles).
The government is discussing with private concessionaires how they can extend the scheme to those tollroads.
Commuters apparently are seen as a powerful political constituency, and like many places the politicians see it as their role to turn economics on its head.
Dwaeggi bulgogi - pork in Korean?
Heading for 3,000km
KEC operates 24 tollroads covering 2874km (1,786 miles). With new TRs under construction by 2010 they say they will be operating 4,000km (about 2,500 miles) of toll expressway. KEC and private concessionaires are operating to a plan for a 6,160km grid comprising basically 9 east-west and seven north-south roads. This is designed to make ecverhwere in the country within 30 minutes and the whole country accessible from anywhere else in half a day's driving.  KEC began in 1969 as an American style government owned toll business named in english rendering Korea Highway Corporation (KHC), taking over two tollroads being built by the Construction Ministry with the responsibility of building a monopoly national network of tollroads. Their slogan was to make anywhere in the country accessible within the day.
Several other tollroads were also built in a huge spurt of initial construction 1967 to 1972.
By the early 1970s 1542km (960 miles) had been built. The first great expressway push was followed by more modest construction mileage. Since 1972 an average of 420km (250miles) a decade has been built.
Most of the system tolls by trip - that is issues tickets on entry for tendering on exit to the toll collector, or registers entries and exits electronically. Cash counts for nearly 50% of transactions, 35% is by proximity cards, 15% by transponder. The system is entirely lane based with gates.
In 1998 the Korean Government moved to encourage built-operate-transfer toll concessions - while continuing to own and develop tollroads with their own government toll authority. Â
Expressway was substituted for Highway in the corporation's name Feb 2007.
KEC is set up with stock as a for-profit company subject to normal commercial law and company tax. Its stock is owned 77% by the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, 12% by the Ministry of Finance, 5% by the Export-Import bank and 0.03% by a Kookmin Bank.
KEC's revenue was around $3.2b (KRW3000b) in 2007 and it has 4,350 employees.
TOLLROADSnews 2008-02-09