The Phnom Penh Post reports, following a one-month trial period, tolling of Cambodia’s new Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway began November 1. Daily volume, 10,000 to 20,000 vehicles, has not diminished since tolling began, according to a public works ministry spokesman. The 187-kilometer (116.2-mile) facility is Cambodia’s fist expressway, constructed over a three-year period by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) with unprecedented foreign financing provided by Chinese banks. The government spokesman said Cambodian and Chinese officials are executing an agreement this week for CRBC to develop a similar facility, the Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway.
Fulcrum (an online publication of Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute) reports on the favorable public response to the expressway’s opening, and the mobility and economic benefits it is expected to deliver. According to the article, early metrics and motorists’ seeming acceptance of toll costs (end-to-end, about US$12 for passenger cars, US$60 for trucks) will likely incentivize Chinese investment in more Cambodian Belt and Road Initiative projects.