East Nippon Expressway Company
The Higashi- Nihon Kōsokudōro K. K. (Japanese东 日本 高速 道路 株式会社, Higashi - Nihon Kōsokudōro kabushiki - gaisha, "East -Japan motorways AG " literally, short NEXCO东 日本, Higashi- Nihon Nekusuko; East Nippon Expressway Co. Ltd. Engl, short NEXCO East. . ) is the eastern Japanese motorway and expressway operating company, one of three regional " special companies " ( tokurei - gaisha ) that were established in the privatization and allocation of public Nihon Doro Kodan (English Japan Highway public corporation. ) 2005. Thus the NEXCO Higashi- Nihon is responsible for operation and maintenance of highways, planning and construction of new lines, the owner of the tracks, however, remains the Nihon kōsokudōro Hoyu, Saimu hensai Kiko (日本 高速 道路 保有·债务 返 済 机构, "Organization for ownership and debt repayment the highways of Japan ", engl. Japan Expressway Holding and Debt Repayment Agency, shortly JEHDRA ), a self -regulatory body of the Ministry of Land, infrastructure and Transport. Through its subsidiary Nex -area Higashi- Nihon it also operates the motorway service areas and parking. About 99% of the shares are held by the Ministry of Transport.
The headquarters of the Higashi- Nihon NEXCO is located in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki, four regional offices ( shisha ) share the responsibility for different routes regional: the Hokkaido - Sapporo shisha, shisha in the Tohoku Sendai, the Kantō shisha in Taitō and the Niigata in Niigata shisha.
Route network
The network of NEXCO Higashi- Nihon comprises approximately 3,600 km, longer distances of several hundred kilometers are under construction. The longest highway is the Tohoku highway that leads from Aomori to the Kanto region in the Tsugaru Strait. Other major routes are the Kan'etsu highway between Tokyo and the west coast, along the coast extending Hokuriku Expressway, the Joban highway to the Pacific coast and the Ban'etsu highway, which produces a more east-west connection. There are also several connecting lines and in particular shorter routes to the north and east of Greater Tokyo, including the (incomplete ) " outer ring road ", Tōkyō - Gaikan highway, and several toll national highways as the Tōkyō -wan- Aqua -Line through the Bay of Tokyo.
Prices
The road user charges are dependent on distance on most routes. For example, costs for cars the use of the entire Tohoku Expressway Aomori Kawaguchi to 13,450 yen, a ride from Chiba to Narita Airport North 950 yen. Users of the electronic payment system ETC ( Electronic Toll Collection) pay discounted rates at certain times. Users of a NEXCO -Higashi Nihon credit card can also collect for each journey " loyalty points " that can be used for premiums or return for the use of motorways.
In the wake of the abolition adopted by the incumbent since 2009 Democratic Central Government of motorway tolls "experimental" several primarily rural routes were free of charge - a total of around 20 % of Japan's highways, but only make up about 5 % of the toll revenue - while the charges on other distances increased. They also decided to occupy the leadership position of the three NEXCOs to avoid amakudari from the private sector and to emphasize the position of Chairman ( KAICHÔ ).
In June 2011, many routes have been in the wake of the Tohoku earthquake re- chargeable and abolished some discounts for ETC users, but were some highways in eastern Japan, especially in Tohoku, all toll-free.