Japan’s new highway toll caps may boost fuel demand

Japan’s transport ministry unveiled a plan that will limit national highway tolls for passenger cars to 2,000 yen (US$24) on weekdays from April while keeping a 1,000 yen (US$12) cap for weekends. The decision represents a compromise by the government, which said that it wanted to cap tolls at 2,000 yen seven days a week. Japan implemented the current highway toll discount system in March 2009, capping the rate at 1,000 yen for passenger cars during weekends and national holidays irrespective of distance covered, a move aimed at stoking the flagging economy. With the catch-phrase “1,000 yen highway” and coupled with relatively low retail gasoline prices in 2009, many drivers hit the roads, one of the factors that boosted gasoline consumption in 2010 for a second straight year. (February 17, 2011)