NEXCO CENTRAL (Central Nippon Expressway Company Limited)




August 20, 2008 Chairman Yano's regular press conference

Conference Summary

(Moderator)

Then we will start a regular conference.


(Chairman)

NEXCO CENTRAL Hironori Yano, Chairman and CEOHello everyone.
There are some topics today, so I will explain them in order.

First, I would like to give you an overview of the business for July.
Toll revenue in July was down 1.4% year-on-year. The breakdown is minus 2.2% for highways and plus 7.2% for general pay. Sales of expressways decreased due to an increase in discounts due to the spread of ETC. General paid Shin-Meishin Expressway involved in-service Isewangan Expressway is due to an increase in the traffic volume of the road.
The number of traffic was 2.7% higher than the same month of the previous year. High speed is plus 1.1%, general charge is plus 9.2%. It fell once in June, but is picking up in July. However, I don't think this will continue in the same way, as July, a year ago, was heavily affected by the typhoon.
This month's ETC discount rate is 24.6%. If there was no ETC discount, the toll revenue would be 66.1 billion, an increase of 2.6% from the same month of the previous year, which is about the same as the number of vehicles passing by, but the ETC discount is about a quarter, as you can see. The actual income is about 50 billion. The ETC discount amount is 16.3 billion yen, which is a 16.9% increase from the same month of the previous year. If there was no ETC discount, the toll revenue would be 66.2 billion, and this month's ETC discount rate is 24.6%.

The construction situation has not changed from the previous month. We are working diligently to open the Kisei Expressway within the year.

Regarding the construction contract successful bid rate for the main types of work, there were 15 in July, and the average successful bid rate was 88.67%. The cumulative total for the fiscal year is 34, which is 86.61%.

Next is the usage status of ETC. The usage rate for this month was 75.7%, which is a steady increase in both the number of units used and the usage rate compared to the previous year. Looking at the latest situation on a weekly basis, the average daily usage during the Obon period from August 8 to 14 increased by 5.6% compared to July 11 to 17, but the daily average. The utilization rate is minus 4.8% from 75.9% to 71.1%. The usage status on weekends and holidays is as written here. This period is the same every year, and the same was true last year, but the overall utilization rate is rising.

Regarding the situation of SA, sales were 111.6% compared to the previous year. The cumulative total for the year is 104.5%. The food and beverage department is 106.4%, the product sales department is 111.7%, the service department is 106.1%, the gasoline department is 116.9%, and the advertising department is 171.4%, although the amount is small. Each division is showing growth compared to the same month of the previous year.
The above is the current state of the business.

Next, I will explain the topics.
First of all, I would like to report on the traffic situation in Obon, which was just announced on August 18, in a little more detail. We would also like to report on the status of the Obon half-price discount, which is our original initiative during the Obon festival.
Minemura, the manager in charge, will explain two things in a row.

 


(Manager)

NEXCO CENTRAL Minemura Conservation and Service ManagerFirst of all, I will explain the traffic situation of Expressway during the Obon festival.
This is the top table in the materials you have. I would like you to understand that the number of units handled is simply the number of units that have passed the tollhouse, but the total is 96.2% compared to the same period last year, which is 11 days. That's a 3.8 point reduction. Below that are the main road increases and decreases. I would like to make a few supplements about places where the trends of numbers are slightly different or fluctuate significantly.
First of all, 101.4% of Meishin Expwy, which is increasing only here, but the network has changed from last year (pointing to the figure). I think that the traffic has changed due to the opening of the Kiyosu line from Kiyosu on the Nagoya Expressway to the direction of Nagoya, and new traffic has emerged from Ichinomiya through the Kiyosu line. As a result, I think that the number of cars passing through the Ichinomiya tollhouse, which is being merged with Nagoya Expressway, has increased. Then, since the traffic of Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway, which is very popular, may be flowing in Nagoya city, I analyzed that it may be the factor that the traffic volume of Meishin Expressway is increasing. I am.
Another point, Higashi-Meihan is 89.6%, a decrease of 10.4 points, but this is due to the opening of Shin-Meishin Expressway, until it opens, get off at Kameyama IC and go to Meihan National Highway. Since there was a car that was there, it may be because it was counted last year as the traffic volume handled once leaving the Kameyama IC.
Due to the development of the network, some roads have some characteristics, but overall, I think that 96.2% of the total shows a big tendency.
It seems that the traffic volume has decreased, but the number of traffic jams has also decreased as shown in the middle table. The number of traffic jams over 10km has decreased by 45 times from last year to 127, and the number of traffic jams over 30km has been reduced by less than half.
The worst 3 points are listed in the table below. The Out-bound line was near the Sagamiko IC at Chuo Expressway, and due to traffic congestion and accidents, 37.6km was the maximum congestion length. Regarding the In-bound line, there are lines such as Higashi-Meihan or Tomei, but the maximum length is 35.2km. Including the Sagamiko IC, all of these areas are called sags, and the road slope changes from Out-bound to In-bound, in other words, the speed of the vehicle tends to slow down a little. By the way. Such a place became a bottleneck of traffic congestion, and it was an extension like this, but it is said that it has decreased in total.
Next, I would like to supplement the traffic conditions of the popular Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway.
First of all, the traffic volume between the newly opened Hida Kiyomi IC and Shirakawago IC was 15,000 on average during the Obon period. The traffic volume for one month after opening was about 9,000, which is 1.7 times the average of the total on weekdays and holidays. Also, on August 15, it was used by the largest number of 19,000 cars during the Obon festival. The highest ever traffic volume was about 20,000 vehicles during the three consecutive holidays in July, which is the second highest traffic volume. In the section before and after that, we are seeing an increase of about 9,000 units in the section from Shogawa to Hida Kiyomi, the south side, and 7,000 units from Shirakawago to Gokayama on the north side.
Next, it is the situation of traffic congestion in the section that became four lanes on July 18. See the table below. From Minami, Gujo-Hachiman had a traffic volume of 23,500 last year, but this year the traffic volume has increased to 29,500, which is about 6,000, but the number of traffic jams is about the same as last year. In 14 times, the length of traffic is slightly shorter and the time of traffic is longer, but the amount of traffic, which is the multiplication, is reduced by 4%.

Next is the result of the Tomei Expressway TDM "Obon Half Price Discount".
As a recap, there is a graph in the middle because of the concept of charge TDM. For example, if you use the traffic during the time when the traffic volume increases around 15:00 at noon, you can reduce the fare from 9:00 to 12:00 in the morning by half and move to this time to reduce traffic congestion. It's about relaxing. Specifically, as shown in the picture below, it Odawara-Atsugi Road, but the red part next to it, the fare for customers who got off between Yokohama-Machida Is to be halved.
First of all, it is the result of Saturday and Sunday on August 16th and 17th, when there were many U-turns in Obon. I compared this with the time of Obon, which was not TDM two years ago. It is also Saturday and Sunday on the 19th and 20th. Regarding traffic volume, the graph on the left in the middle shows that the average daily traffic volume is about 80,000, which is just over 80,000, an increase of 7.4%. To the right, the number of cars passing during the discounted hours increased by 21.6%. You can think of it as a customer who expected a discount during this time period. On the other hand, looking at the daily traffic congestion, it is a decrease of 44.8% compared to two years ago, which is the amount of traffic congestion. Regarding the length and length of traffic jams, the maximum length exceeded 30km, but now it is about 20km, a decrease of 32.1%. A little more detailed graph is on the next page. The top is August 16th, but the red line in the graph is two years ago and the blue line is this year. You can see that the traffic volume is increasing from 9:00 to 12:00. More prominent is the graph on the 17th below. If you look at the line graph, you can see that the traffic that was passing during this time shifts to a relatively early time on the left side, especially after 14:00 in the evening. I have mentioned these two days as a prominent example of U-turns, but in the nine days that were implemented, there were days when the effect was achieved and days when it was not. If you average them all, it will look like the next page.
On average for 9 days, the traffic volume has decreased slightly as a whole, but as shown in the graph, the amount of traffic congestion and the length of traffic congestion also tend to decrease on average. Daily data is available on page 5 and beyond, but explanations will be omitted.
that's all.

 


(Chairman)

There are three more topics. I will continue to explain.
First, I would like to talk about disasters and free passage measures between Gokayama and Fukumitsu Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway Since it has already been implemented, it is a report of how much it has been used as a result. There was a torrential rain in the Hokuriku region from the early morning of July 28, and the cut slope of this section collapsed, and the road was closed for 6 hours until the emergency restoration was completed. At this time, of the parallel national highways, No. 304 was also closed due to a landslide, and in a situation where the road closure is likely to continue for the time being, there was a request from Toyama Prefecture, and from July 28 to August 5 For a total of 7 days and 17 hours, the area between Gokayama and Fukumitsu was used by the local people as a free passage measure. The situation in chronological order is as shown in the material, and the total number of vehicles covered by this free passage measure is 17,431. The most common was 10,580 ordinary cars and 4,041 light cars. It was a free passage for about a week, but I think it helped the local people to some extent.

Next is the fourth topic. Although it has already been announced, we are preparing materials to explain it directly. There are two discounts, "Lake Hamana Kanzanji Onsen Tour Plan" and "Izuhakone Tour Plan". From Friday, September 12th to Thursday, March 19th next year, I made a plan with a longer period of half a year. I think this is because we have been doing various projects and gradually became aware of the project discounts, but the number of users has increased. We believe that we can improve the convenience of our customers by using the Expressway through these discounts. Last year it was a relatively short period, but this year we are developing plans with a long period in various places. The "Izuhakone Tour Plan" is for departures and arrivals in the Tokyo, Shizuoka, and Nagoya areas, and the destination is around Izuhakone. However, this is the second time for Lake Hamana, and last year it was held for two months from October 20th to December 21st. The feature of this time is that the Tokyo area is added to the departure and arrival area. We also take a long period to make it easier for families and others to make sightseeing plans.

The last topic was announced today and is planning a customer appreciation event. With a feeling of gratitude to our customers, we will hold a campaign event "Going ☆ Highway 2008" Expressway Expressway Expressway, LACHIC will be held in Nagoya from October 11th to 13th, and last year it was only in Nagoya, but this year it will be held in Tokyo as well, scheduled to be held in Tokyo Midtown on September 27th and 28th. is. Expressway, but we will hold various events at each SA on Saturdays and Sundays from mid-September to early October. In addition to exhibiting road patrol cars, we are also planning games that children can enjoy.
From September 12th to October 13th at the same time, SA / PA operated by Central Nippon Exis will also carry out a campaign to win luxury prizes for shopping and refueling. The premium Drivers' during the same period also for the card, we plan to become a shopping point from the normal 2 times 2 points to 5 points "points five times campaign".
You can see which SA will be held in the overview on the following pages. Please check later.

This concludes my explanation.

 


(Moderator)

Then, thank you if you have any questions.


(Reporter)

It is said that the number of traffic in July was slightly positive, but how was the comparison with last year compared to last year? Also, although it was negative in June, please tell us if you think that the driver's desire to save money due to the soaring gasoline price is still continuing.


(Chairman)

I will investigate the first question, so please do it later. I don't think the tendency of the second question has changed. The price of oil will be determined by various factors, so it is not possible to know if it will continue to rise and rise without looking at the situation, but if gasoline becomes so expensive, it will still be. I think that such a tendency will not change, such as switching to a mini car or shifting to another public transportation system if there is one.
This is a comparison of last year's and July of this year, but looking at the traffic volume at the Tokyo Toll Gate, on weekdays it is minus 2.2% for regular cars and minus 1.7% for medium-sized cars. On the other hand, mini vehicles are up 5.1%. Large cars and oversized cars are positive respectively, and when comparing only weekdays as a whole, it is minus 0.7%. On the other hand, if you look at holidays, it is + 2.8% overall, and if you look at the breakdown, light cars are + 19.7%. All other models are also increasing, with regular cars plus 1.4%, medium-sized cars plus 0.2%, large cars plus 5.1%, and oversized cars plus 21.4%, so looking at July alone, it increased year-on-year. However, as you mentioned in the question, in the long run, I think that the impact of soaring gasoline prices will have a significant impact on traffic volume.
Did you know the numbers in the first question?


(Charge TL)

The actual result in July 2007 was 102.2% compared to the previous year, which is almost the same as the 102.7% in July this year.


(Chairman)

Is it OK.


(Moderator)

If you have no other questions, this is the end of the 34th regular press conference.
Thank you very much for your busy schedule today.


(Chairman)

Thank you very much.