HÀ NỘI — Toll on a stretch of National Highway 18 in the northern province of Quảng Ninh will be reduced for residents living in Cẩm Phả City and Vân Đồn District from Wednesday midnight, said the province’s People’s Committee.

Residents of the 16 wards in Cẩm Phả City and those of the Cái Rồng, Đông Xá and Đoàn Kết communes in Vân Đồn District will enjoy a toll reduction of 30-100 per cent. The toll road leads from Hạ Long City to Cẩm Phả City’s Mông Dương Ward.

The toll fee will be reduced by 60 per cent to VNĐ20,000 (US$0.9) per vehicle for vehicles with 12-30 seats and trucks weighing two to four tonnes, and by 57 per cent to VNĐ15,000 per vehicle for vehicles with less than 12 seats and trucks weighing less than two tonnes.

Vehicles with 31 or more seats and trucks weighing four to 10 tonnes will enjoy a 53 per cent toll reduction, at VNĐ35,000 per vehicle.

Toll for trucks weighing 10-18 tonnes and for 20ft container trucks will be reduced by 36 per cent to VNĐ90,000 per vehicle. Toll for trucks weighing more than 18 tonnes and measuring up to 40ft will be reduced by 30 per cent to VNĐ140,000 per vehicle.

The project of upgrading the Hạ Long-Mông Dương section of National Highway 18 was implemented in September 2015 under the form of BOT (build-operate-transfer). The project had a total investment capital of some VNĐ2 trillion ($88 million) by BOT Biên Cương JSC.

The company began collecting toll from February 13 this year. It paused toll collection during the Tết (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) holidays and resumed it on February 20 but was met with public opposition, with drivers blocking traffic and causing disorder at the toll station. — VNS