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Highway robbery!
Published: Friday | August 24, 2012 Comments 0
These barriers were used to block the Old Harbour/Sandy Bay Bypass yesterday, forcing motorists trying to access the May Pen leg of Highway 2000 East-West into Kingston to make the long journey through Sandy Bay and Freetown.
By Peter Espeut
The Highway 2000 toll arrangements have been unfair from the beginning. They are unfair by design. We are told that the toll rates charged are calculated by the mile, which, if they did, it would be fair enough; but the calculation is not by miles actually travelled.
If you go the full length of the toll road from Caymanas (St Catherine) to Sandy Bay (Clarendon), you pay at the Vineyards Toll Plaza the full tariff for the full distance (varies by size of vehicle). If you start at Caymanas, but come off at Spanish Town, you pay a reduced amount equivalent to the actual mileage travelled, which is fair enough.
But if you start at Caymanas, but exit at Old Harbour (St Catherine) or Freetown (Clarendon), you pay at the Vineyards Toll Plaza the same toll charge as if you travelled the whole distance to Sandy Bay! Highway robbery!
In fact, if you enter the highway at Spanish Town (St Catherine) and exit at Old Harbour (quite a short distance), you pay the same money at the Vineyards Toll Plaza as if you travelled the full distance from Caymanas to Sandy Bay. How can such an arrangement - unfair to Jamaican residents - be supported by the Government of Jamaica? Isn't Government supposed to be defending our interests? I have been writing about this for years, but the injustice and overcharging continues. Highway robbery!
What is done in many other countries is that, when you enter a toll highway, you get a chit, and wherever you exit, the entrance chit is used to calculate your miles travelled on their roadway, and, therefore, the tariff you should pay. That is fair: you pay for miles actually travelled. In Jamaica, Highway 2000 is designed to be inherently unfair.
The new section of Highway 2000 just opened (extended from Sandy Bay to the Rio Minho) is also unfair. You can no longer exit at Sandy Bay, which means that the furthest the money you pay at the Vineyards Toll Plaza can take you is from Caymanas to Freetown, a much shorter distance. This means that, although they charge you the distance from Caymanas to Sandy Bay, you cannot actually travel the distance you pay for! For that money, you have to come off earlier at Freetown. Highway robbery!
So this really means that the per-mile rate has been increased through the back door, since the longest distance you can now travel on the money you pay at the Vineyards Toll Plaza is reduced, while the toll charge remains the same. More highway robbery!
Since last week, if you continue on the highway past the Freetown exit, you have to pay a second toll charge at the new toll plaza at May Pen, and whether you exit at Mineral Heights or at the end of the road (the Rio Minho), you pay the same money. How can this be fair when the distances are different? Are not the toll charges calculated on a per-mile basis?
CALCULATION DISCREPANCY
How is the toll charged at the new May Pen Toll Plaza calculated? From where to where? They tell us that it will cut the travel time from Sandy Bay to May Pen by at least two-thirds, from the current 18 minutes to only six minutes, driving at the permitted speed of 110km/h. But you can't enter the toll highway at Sandy Bay, so how can they calculate from there?
The nearest point you can enter is Freetown, so the shortest distance you can travel on the new section of Highway 2000 is from Freetown to Mineral Heights. They will certainly not throw in the Mineral Heights to Rio Minho distance free of charge, so, no doubt, the distance to the Rio Minho is included in the calculation. The May Pen toll charge must relate to the distance from Freetown to the Rio Minho.
But if you start your journey at Caymanas, at the Vineyards Toll Plaza, you are already paying for the distance between Freetown and Sandy Bay. Does this mean that if you travel from Caymanas, all the way to the Rio Minho, you will pay twice to travel from Freetown to Sandy Bay (once at Vineyards and then again at May Pen)? Highway robbery!
From Day One, Highway 2000 has been badly designed, and I can see the late John Maxwell smiling and saying, "I told you so!"
We have begun the second 50 years in the same vein as the first.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and rural-development scientist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.
Published: Friday | August 24, 2012 Comments 0
These barriers were used to block the Old Harbour/Sandy Bay Bypass yesterday, forcing motorists trying to access the May Pen leg of Highway 2000 East-West into Kingston to make the long journey through Sandy Bay and Freetown.
By Peter Espeut
The Highway 2000 toll arrangements have been unfair from the beginning. They are unfair by design. We are told that the toll rates charged are calculated by the mile, which, if they did, it would be fair enough; but the calculation is not by miles actually travelled.
If you go the full length of the toll road from Caymanas (St Catherine) to Sandy Bay (Clarendon), you pay at the Vineyards Toll Plaza the full tariff for the full distance (varies by size of vehicle). If you start at Caymanas, but come off at Spanish Town, you pay a reduced amount equivalent to the actual mileage travelled, which is fair enough.
But if you start at Caymanas, but exit at Old Harbour (St Catherine) or Freetown (Clarendon), you pay at the Vineyards Toll Plaza the same toll charge as if you travelled the whole distance to Sandy Bay! Highway robbery!
In fact, if you enter the highway at Spanish Town (St Catherine) and exit at Old Harbour (quite a short distance), you pay the same money at the Vineyards Toll Plaza as if you travelled the full distance from Caymanas to Sandy Bay. How can such an arrangement - unfair to Jamaican residents - be supported by the Government of Jamaica? Isn't Government supposed to be defending our interests? I have been writing about this for years, but the injustice and overcharging continues. Highway robbery!
What is done in many other countries is that, when you enter a toll highway, you get a chit, and wherever you exit, the entrance chit is used to calculate your miles travelled on their roadway, and, therefore, the tariff you should pay. That is fair: you pay for miles actually travelled. In Jamaica, Highway 2000 is designed to be inherently unfair.
The new section of Highway 2000 just opened (extended from Sandy Bay to the Rio Minho) is also unfair. You can no longer exit at Sandy Bay, which means that the furthest the money you pay at the Vineyards Toll Plaza can take you is from Caymanas to Freetown, a much shorter distance. This means that, although they charge you the distance from Caymanas to Sandy Bay, you cannot actually travel the distance you pay for! For that money, you have to come off earlier at Freetown. Highway robbery!
So this really means that the per-mile rate has been increased through the back door, since the longest distance you can now travel on the money you pay at the Vineyards Toll Plaza is reduced, while the toll charge remains the same. More highway robbery!
Since last week, if you continue on the highway past the Freetown exit, you have to pay a second toll charge at the new toll plaza at May Pen, and whether you exit at Mineral Heights or at the end of the road (the Rio Minho), you pay the same money. How can this be fair when the distances are different? Are not the toll charges calculated on a per-mile basis?
CALCULATION DISCREPANCY
How is the toll charged at the new May Pen Toll Plaza calculated? From where to where? They tell us that it will cut the travel time from Sandy Bay to May Pen by at least two-thirds, from the current 18 minutes to only six minutes, driving at the permitted speed of 110km/h. But you can't enter the toll highway at Sandy Bay, so how can they calculate from there?
The nearest point you can enter is Freetown, so the shortest distance you can travel on the new section of Highway 2000 is from Freetown to Mineral Heights. They will certainly not throw in the Mineral Heights to Rio Minho distance free of charge, so, no doubt, the distance to the Rio Minho is included in the calculation. The May Pen toll charge must relate to the distance from Freetown to the Rio Minho.
But if you start your journey at Caymanas, at the Vineyards Toll Plaza, you are already paying for the distance between Freetown and Sandy Bay. Does this mean that if you travel from Caymanas, all the way to the Rio Minho, you will pay twice to travel from Freetown to Sandy Bay (once at Vineyards and then again at May Pen)? Highway robbery!
From Day One, Highway 2000 has been badly designed, and I can see the late John Maxwell smiling and saying, "I told you so!"
We have begun the second 50 years in the same vein as the first.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and rural-development scientist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.
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