Holiday, weekend expressway tolls to be cut to ¥1,000

Motorists can travel expressways in most of Japan with a maximum toll of ¥1,000 for an unlimited distance on weekends and national holidays, the nation's six major highway operators and the transport ministry officially announced Friday.

The discount will be valid for two years after the passage of the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 that earmarks ¥500 billion for the step, according to the highway operators and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Drivers whose vehicles are equipped with the electronic toll collection system device will be eligible for the discount. The government will give a ¥5,250 subsidy to those who buy the device, which costs ¥10,000 to ¥20,000.

Excluded from the discount are expressways in the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas, the Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway and the Tokyo Bay Aqualine bridge-tunnel.

On weekdays, a special 30 percent discount will be applied to expressways except those on the two metropolitan areas, the bridge expressway and the Tokyo Bay tunnel.