The Roads and Highways Department on Sunday in a meeting proposed Tk 20.18 as the base toll rate for each kilometre for the 55-kilometre-long Dhaka–Mawa–Bhanga expressway connecting to the Padma Bridge now under construction.

The meeting at the road transport and bridges ministry at the Secretariat formed a committee to fix the toll rates for the first-ever expressway of the country.

Currently the Road Transport and Highways Division and the Bridges Division under the road transport ministry collect tolls for using various bridges but not for any highway, as stipulated by the Toll Policy 2014.

The committee was asked to submit its report in 15 working days while the tolls for the expressway would be implemented after the inauguration of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge.

People will have to pay tolls separately for using the Padma Bridge scheduled to be opened to the traffic by June 2022.

As per the proposal, the toll rate for trailers will be Tk 2,775, heavy trucks Tk 2,220, medium trucks Tk  1,110, big buses Tk 999, mini trucks Tk 833, minibuses Tk 555, microbuses, pickups and jeeps Tk 444, sedan cars Tk 278 and motorcycles Tk 56 to cross the expressway.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on September 3, 2019 directed the authorities concerned to impose tolls on all the major highways across the country to raise funds for their maintenance.

Following the instruction, the authorities have taken the initiative of fixing toll rates for various highways and expressways.

The division earlier held four meetings for fixing the toll rates for the four-lane Dhaka–Mawa–Bhanga expressway divided in two parts — one from the Jatrabari crossing to Mawa with Ekuria and Babubazar link roads and the other from Pacchor to Bhanga.

This highway has three bridges on it — China-Bangladesh Friendship Bridge known as Buriganga Setu, Dhaleshwari Bridge and Arial Khan Bridge — from which the RHD realises tolls already.

RHD additional chief engineer of Dhaka zone Md Sabuj Uddin Khan told New Age that he had presented proposals on Sunday for toll rates for the expressway based on the toll policy and toll rates of the above-mentioned three bridges.

The proposal was also based on the toll rates for the Dhaka Bypass Road, which has already received approval from the Finance Division.

The department proposed four toll-collection points for the vehicles bound for the Dhaka–Mawa–Bhanga expressway, which would be at Abdullahpur, Dhaleshwari, Maligram and Arial Khan.

Four other toll-collection points were also proposed for the vehicles that would use the Bhanga–Mawa–Dhaka route, which would be at Arial Khan, Sreenagar, Dhaleshwari and Abdullahpur.

Furthermore, the RHD proposed the appointment of an operation and maintenance contractor and the establishment of electric toll collection centres for the expressway that was built at a cost of Tk 11,003 crore.

RTHD secretary Md Nazrul Islam presided over the Sunday meeting and formed the 16-member committee headed by the division’s additional secretary Abu Sayeed Sheikh and the representatives of transport leaders and rights activists, said the division’s deputy secretary Fahmida Hoque Khan.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in March 2020 formally inaugurated the expressway with a goal to reduce the travel time and to ensure a smooth and comfortable journey to and from 22 southwestern districts.

The roads authorities also proposed toll rates for the under-construction Rampura–Amulia–Demra road and the Dhaka Elevated Expressway.