Dear Editor,

The announcement of proposed tolls for the Williamsfield to May Pen leg of Highway 2000 — $480 for class one vehicles, $720 for class two, and $1,400 for class three — reopens a national question Jamaicans have been quietly debating for over a decade: Do rising tolls increase productivity, or do they become an obstacle to growth?

There is no doubt that Highway 2000 has transformed travel. Faster, safer, and more reliable journeys save time, reduce vehicle wear, and improve logistics. For businesses that depend on predictable delivery times, toll roads are a productivity tool. Over the last 10 years many motorists have shown a willingness to pay when the highway clearly delivers those benefits.

However, productivity gains must be weighed against affordability and equity. Toll rates have steadily increased across the network, often in small annual steps that appear modest in isolation but become substantial when combined with stagnant wages, high fuel costs, and rising living expenses. For daily commuters, bus operators, and small truckers, tolls are not an occasional convenience, they are a recurring cost of earning a living.

Policymakers too often overlook a critical consequence: High toll rates inevitably force increases in public transportation fares. Bus and taxi operators travelling between Williamsfield and May Pen cannot, in my opinion, absorb toll charges of this magnitude indefinitely. Those costs will be passed directly to commuters. In practical terms, this means higher fares not only for short Clarendon to Manchester journeys, but also for longer routes linking Manchester to Kingston, as operators incorporate cumulative toll expenses into their pricing. What begins as a “highway user fee” will quickly become a broader cost-of-living issue for workers, students, and pensioners.

Experience also shows that when tolls rise beyond what users can comfortably absorb, behaviour changes. Some motorists divert to older, untolled roads, increasing congestion, accidents, and maintenance costs there. Public passenger operators face pressure to raise fares, pushing transport inflation onto households. In these cases, tolls cease to be productivity-enhancing and instead act as a tax on mobility.

The Williamsfield to May Pen segment is especially sensitive. It has been used toll-free since opening, and many drivers have structured travel patterns and budgets around that reality. Introducing a relatively high toll now may produce an initial drop in traffic, particularly among class two and three operators, whose costs accumulate quickly over multiple trips.

This does not mean tolling is wrong; it means tolling must be smarter. Expanded commuter discounts, caps for frequent users, and careful monitoring of fare impacts are essential if highways are to open doors to opportunity rather than quietly narrow them.

Dudley McLean II

dm15094@gmail.com