Expressway tolls to go up from April 1

What's up with that? They are already overpriced!!! Highway Robbery!! Just another way of politicians taking advantage of daily necessaries to line their pockets!

The difference for drivers will be slight, and it could even be in their favour.

Lol. I guess I should be grateful for the rise in prices then! Any way you slice it it's still an increase!!

Who's spinning this garbage?

The difference for drivers will be slight, and it could even be in their favor.

It's only in their their favor if there's a net decrease.

What!? These roads are already ridiculously overpriced.

They need to raise money wherever they can. although if other fiscal policy is a guide there will probabaly be a decrease in gas tax to offsetr this and so as "not to damage the recovery"

Ok great now that they get a grasp on that, how about rounding that silly little one yen coin, instead of charging 10,003yen for example why not drop the 3 yen, rounding has been around for years in most sensible countrys, time to get with the program. Round down the one yens in shops too.

Who's spinning this garbage?

LOL

My guess would be Big Brother. Orwell would be so proud.

The difference for drivers will be slight, and it could even be in their favor.

Come on now, this is nonsense. It's an increase any way you cut it.

They better make sure that average Joe's monthly paycheck starts increasing soon too.

The 900 Yen charge for the Hanshin in Osaka is pure highway robbery. The Kinki is only 500 Yen and you can travel a long way which seems a reasonable cost for such a road toll system. Reminds me of the greedy parking fines of 15,000 yen for around 3 minutes or as fast as they can stick a ticket on the window.

These exorbitant charges only hurt everyone in the end through increased prices on goods. I would like to know how much traffic uses the Hanshin expressway now, compared to before. I know that I avoid using the highway as much as possible for my business travel. I would spend at least 10,000 yen less per week now.

Is our salaries will be increased by 8% as well ?

I am sorry but 3% of 500 yen is 15 yen not 14 yen and thus it will round up 10 520 yen. They should learn basic math before trying to say that they will round down.

My understanding is that tolls were supposed to be phased out as the highways were payed for.

The government does not need more money. It needs smaller budgets. It needs a crackdown on wastes and kickbacks and other assorted corruption.

Not forgetting that the cost of owning a car will also increase-3% more for your gas too!!!

Just owning a car in Japan is expensive - road tax, insurance, shakken, etc. And as someone who owns a high-powered car, paying nearly $600 a year in road tax, the highway tolls are a rip-off!

I wouldn't be surprised if the tolls are going is because they are losing out on gas tax from the increase in gas mileage of cars.

What happens after all these 'increases' and they still are running short? Will they continue to raise taxes and cause more people to spend less? Once it goes up, it rarely goes down so this could well be yet another nail in the coffin of Japan's recovery. Raising taxes during economic hard times is always a losing idea. Time will tell just as it has in other parts of the world in the last 40 years.

I am sorry but 3% of 500 yen is 15 yen not 14 yen and thus it will round up 10 520 yen. They should learn basic math before trying to say that they will round down.

Kent, the article didn't spell everything out, but the calculation isn't wrong. A toll of 500 yen today is inclusive of the 5% consumption tax, so the real toll is 476 yen. Raise the tax on 476 yen to 8%, and you get a total of 514.08 yen.

Everyone here is still completely correct that it's not in the driver's favor, of course. If the highway toll booth only takes 510 yen, and "eating" the 4-yen loss, it's the highway that's losing money. The driver is still paying more than he used to, because taxes have gone up. And the government still gets their 8% no matter what.

Drivers better get used to this. This has been on the cards for years - due to a number of factors:

The roads are privately operated - it's a business! Plus, the combination of the ageing infrastructure & the falling population mean less drivers on the road which, in turn, means maintenance costs are set to skyrocket. This will not be sustainable in the future.

Totally agree on the pricing issue - I once rented a car and drove from Tokyo to Okayama and it cost me 15,500 yen in tolls! (I don't have an ETC card) The bullet train is 16,000! What the hell!

The difference for drivers will be slight, and it could even be in their favor. For example, a particular toll station might charge 500 yen. With the regular 3% calculation, the total would be 514, but with the altered rounding system, the total for the driver would decrease to 510 yen.

How is an increase of 10 yen in anybody's favor except the government's?

So let me get this right, the prices will go up from say 500 yen to 510 yen, but it is being spinned as a decrease????? WTF!!??