The Gyeongnam provincial government's push to implement a toll discount for local residents by next April is facing scheduling hurdles. The initiative's outlook has become uncertain as related ordinances were put on hold by the provincial assembly, and establishing a system to identify eligible resident vehicles is estimated to take about eight months.

According to the Gyeongnam provincial government on the 6th, authorities plan to revise and resubmit the "Gyeongnam Province Machang Bridge Toll Support Ordinance"—which was put on hold last month by the Construction and Fire Committee of the Provincial Assembly—for reconsideration within the year.

A provincial official stated, "After explaining the revised details to the council members, we aim to request a review in October if possible, or during the November or December sessions if not."

During its review last month, the Construction and Fire Committee withheld the ordinance, pointing out that financial-sharing negotiations with Changwon City regarding the resident discounts had not been concluded, and that a system to distinguish local resident vehicles from those of other regions was not yet in place.

The province is currently pursuing a method that automatically screens vehicles owned by Gyeongnam residents by linking with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's vehicle database. For other raised concerns, the province plans to provide further explanation to the assembly regarding the operational effectiveness of the system.

The core issue, however, is that even if the ordinance passes, significant time will still be required before the actual discounts can take effect.

"While we are conducting preliminary consultations so that follow-up administrative procedures can proceed immediately upon the ordinance's enactment, recent discussions with the operating company indicate that building the system will take about eight months," a provincial official noted. "The actual implementation date will depend on how long the construction period takes."

Consequently, even if the ordinance passes the provincial assembly in October or by the end of the year, an 8-month system development period makes the original target implementation date of next April practically difficult to achieve.

The resident discount program aims to provide toll benefits for vehicles registered to residents living in Gyeongnam Province, as well as corporate vehicles based within the province. Under this framework, even if future toll increases occur, discounted rates will be applied to local resident vehicles, while standard contractual tolls will be charged to vehicles from other cities and provinces. The province plans to use these additional revenues to fund the resident discounts.

The provincial government estimates that implementing this differential toll system could reduce the fiscal burden required for resident discounts by 2.5 billion to 4.5 billion won annually.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]