By Lavern Clarke, Staff Reporter 
THE EXACT amount of toll to be paid by Jamaican motorists on Highway 2000 is yet to be determined. But The Financial Gleaner estimates that it could cost $47 to travel one way on the 14.2-kilometre Old Harbour Bypass from Nightingale Grove (Bushy Park) in St. Catherine to Sandy Bay, Clarendon.
In line with international rates, the toll will be no more than US$0.07 ($3.34 at current exchange rates) per kilometre. But the highway developers said this week the actual charge has not been set as traffic studies on which the decision rests, remain incomplete.
The toll will be set anywhere "between zero and seven cents (US)," said Pascal Rabbe, managing director for TransJamaican Highway, which will build and operate Highway 2000 under a 35-year concession agreement.
International toll rates fall within a three to seven US cents band.
The toll is indexed to US inflation, and the concession agreement allows TransJamaican to calculate the charge based on the road fee's estimated present value at the period it is applied, in an apparent hedge against the time-eroded value of money. This carries some implication for what the Jamaican dollar denominated toll will be, but TransJamaican refused to disclose what its calculations of the actual rates look like.
Construction on the toll highway begins with the dualisation of the Old Harbour bypass, a 14-kilometre stretch, on which ground will be broken next Wednesday, April 10. The company expects to start collecting toll revenues in the next 16 months.
Assuming that the cap will be the rate at which the toll is applied and that the nominal value of the cap remains constant in the next year and a half, then motorists will be paying approximately $47 to travel the full length of the bypass, one way. It is expected, however, that the toll for different classes of vehicles will vary.
Initial traffic studies done by Steer Davies Gleave in March 2000 and used to assess the feasibility of a toll highway, showed daily traffic counts of 27,500 vehicle movement between Kingston and Bushy Park, and 13,000 between Four Paths and Bushy Park.
Assuming a toll of $47, and that the traffic counts between Four Paths and Bushy Park are maintained at current figures, the Financial Gleaner estimates that TransJamaican could earn $611,000 per day, $18.3m per month or $223m per year, just on the first 14 kilometres. (See estimates in table). The phase one road length is 72-km, and will be built over three years.
Additionally, traffic is expected to grow at a rate of 10 per cent annually, for the first five years. (See projections in table).
TransJamaican was set up by Bouygues Travaux Publics - the French construction firm selected as preferred bidder for the highway/toll operation - but has several other equity partners.
The company needs $18.6b (US$390m) to build phase one of the highway, from Kingston to Williamsfield, and so far has raised $1.9b (US$40.5m) in equity, and debt of $5.8b (US$122m) - (US$50m) from RBTT Merchant Bank and US$72 million from the National Road Operating and Construction Company (NROCC) - for a total J$7.7b (US$162.5m) or 42 per cent of the phase one funds.
Rabbe says the company will continue to seek new equity, but has no immediate plans to list publicly on the local stock exchange.
NROCC, the highway administrator which was recently entrenched in law as Jamaica's toll authority, will lend Bouygues a total US$107m for the first phase of construction.
The larger portion of that loan, already disbursed, represents the allocation to the Kingston to Sandy Bay leg, or phase 1A, of the development, says NROCC chief executive, Dr. Wayne Reid.
NROCC has got full commitment from the bond market of $6.7b (US$140m) to cover its obligations to Bouygues and the $1.2b (US$34m) in working capital to finance its own operations.
Rabbe says repayment of the Jamaican debt is secondary to its other obligations. But once its senior debts are cleared, he said 50 per cent of cash flows would go towards servicing TransJamaican's debt to NROCC and the other 50 per cent will be paid over as dividends to the company's equity partners.
The road design is undergoing final review by a joint National Works Agency (NWA) and NROCC technical team, prior to the issuing of the 'Notice to Proceed', the instrument that authorises the contractor to begin construction activity.
The project will be highly capital intensive. TransJamaican will be importing all the toll equipment as well as some construction machinery, said Rabbe, who also indicated that the company would be sourcing some equipment locally.
The company has advertised for some 150 specialists and office staff to work on the project. Only the managers are from France, said Reid.
Once the Old Harbour Bypass segment has been dualised and equipped for tolling, work will proceed on the Kingston to Bushy Park segment, followed by the replacement of the Portmore Causeway with a more expansive six lane bridge, said Rabbe.
