The result of an inspection into fee collection at HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway on February 18, released by the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, shows that some 39,000 vehicles traveled on the expressway that day, while the revenue of the entire expressway amounted to VND3.3 billion, the local media reported.

The Dau Giay toll station on the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway

The total revenue from toll collection at the Dau Giay tollgate on the first day of inspection was reported at VND767 million, according to the report, while revenue from each of the two remaining tollgates on the expressway was not announced.

The five-day inspection into toll collection activities at the Dau Giay tollgate on the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway came after two armed robbers stormed a toll station in Dong Nai Province’s Thong Nhat District on the expressway and fled with VND2.2 billion early this month. The large sum of money raised questions about the transparency of toll collection for the expressway.

Nguyen Van Nhi, deputy general director of Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), noted that VEC would closely coordinate with the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, the competent agencies and press agencies to publicize paperwork and methods used in collecting tolls at the tollgates of the expressway.

Statistics from VEC show that during the nine-day Tet holiday, the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway saw the passage of over 43,000 vehicles per day, and the daily revenue from the toll collection at three gates averaged VND3.24 billion. More than 59,600 vehicles traveled on the expressway on February 10, or the sixth day of the lunar year.

Vietnam Expressway Services Engineering JSC, which manages the toll collection activity at HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, had earlier explained the source of the cash after the tollgate robbery, stating that the revenue was earned over multiple days rather than in a single shift.

SGT