HCMC – The National Assembly (NA) passed the Road Traffic Law this morning, June 27, with 447 out of 454 deputies present voting in favor. The law will take effect on January 1, 2025.
Chapter 3 of the new law introduces a series of new regulations on expressways, which have garnered considerable attention recently. These regulations ensure expressways are designed in compliance with specific technical standards and regulations, promoting sustainable, efficient, modern, digital, and environmentally friendly transportation practices.
Expressways are planned and constructed with appropriate investments, incorporating necessary facilities such as merging lanes, connecting roads, traffic management centers, rest areas, parking areas, electronic toll collection systems, and vehicle weight control facilities.
The law stipulates that the Government can collect road tolls under two circumstances: for expressways funded by the State through public capital and for expressways financed by other methods that are transferred to the State upon completion of contract.
Rest areas along expressways must comply with national technical standards issued by the Ministry of Transport and technical standards published by the competent authority.
These rest areas are designed to facilitate synchronized operation with expressway infrastructure, providing services such as support for rescue, repair, and fuel and energy supply for vehicles.
For publicly-funded expressway projects, rest areas can be invested in concurrently with the project through public investment or have investors chosen in line with bidding regulations. For projects under public-private partnerships, rest areas should be constructed alongside the road project.
The location and scale of rest areas, parking areas, and stopping points are determined during project planning and design.
