FEC approves toll fees for vehicles plying federal roads

The Federal Executive Council has approved a new policy for tollgates including fees for different categories of vehicles plying federal roads across the country.

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who disclosed this at a media briefing on Wednesday, however, added that the tolling would not take effect “until the roads are motorable”.

He gave detailed of the approved toll fees for vehicles as cars, N200; SUVs, N300; private buses, N300; commercial buses, N150, and luxury buses and trucks, N500.

This is coming a few months after the Federal Government said tollgates would be reintroduced for concessionaires to recoup investments, under a new arrangement through the new highway development and management initiative (HDMI).

In a statement by a presidential aide, Tolu Ogunlesi, the council granted approval for the ‘Federal Roads and Bridges Tolling Policy and Regulations’ at its meeting on Wednesday.

The statement stressed that the tolling system would prioritise the use of technology.

It added that the policy was developed “after extensive consultations with various stakeholders within and outside the government, including transport unions like NURTW, NARTO and RTEAN”.

“A Willingness-To-Pay Survey was carried out, to arrive at the recommended pricing framework. The fees at existing tolled roads (Lagos and Abuja Airport Toll Plazas, and the Lekki and Ikoyi Toll Plazas) were also taken into consideration,” he added.

As contained in the statement, Fashola shared highlights of the new tolling policy as approved by the Federal Government to include use of an “open tolling system”, specifics on type of roads approved for tolling by the Federal Government, as well as type of vehicles exempted from the policy.

“It will be an open tolling system (just like the one that used to be in existence in the country), instead of a closed tolling system. (A closed tolling system means that you pay per distance travelled (‘distance-dependent’), while open tolling means you pay a fixed/flat rate that is not dependent on distance travelled),” the statement said.

“Only dual carriageways owned by the Federal Government will be eligible for tolling by the Federal Government. (Of the 35,000km of federal roads in existence in the country, only 5,050km are dual carriageway). Federal carriageways that are single, that is undivided highways will not be tolled. The only exceptions here will be some bridges, which are listed in the policy.

“Toll revenues will be used to maintain the roads and also to repay investors who have invested in building or completing a road under the Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI). Electronic toll collection and management systems will be prioritised over cash systems.

“People who live around toll plaza areas will benefit from what is called ‘frequent users’ discount, in line with global best practice.”