Originally Posted by RustyC
Everybody wins? Take a look at Bangkok's tollways. The one to the airport was one of those public-private projects designed to try to alleviate congestion on a major surface highway yet get as close to self-paying as possible. But in order to do that, they had to set the toll at what turned out to be too much for local drivers. They missed the revenue projection with bills due, so what could they do? The only way to get more money was to raise the toll even more.
Nope, the toll was reduced last year -- it now costs all of 20 baht (~$0.40) from Don Muang to Din Daeng. Unsurprisingly utilization is also up, but not quite enough to offset the loss in revenue, so the government is making up the difference to the operator.
Foreigners arriving at BKK airport and wealthy Thais may feel like they have it as their own private expressway (and sometimes drive at speeds reflecting that!)...
Official speed limit 80 km/h, personal record so far 160 km/h in a taxi
But if you want a case of pay-as-you-go that works, look down south to Singapore and its ERP system. Electronic tolls are charged for all cars entering the Central Business District during rush hour, and as a result there are almost never traffic jams in the city... except on one bit of the East Coast Parkway which is not covered by the ERP system (something which The Authorities will doubtless fix soon). Of course, having to pay ~US$20000 for a 5-year license to operate a car also helps, but as a happy taxi & public transport user I'm all for it
