October 17, 2007 Chairman Yano's regular press conference

(Moderator)

Now we will start the regular interview.

(Chairman)

Hello everyone.

First of all, regarding the current state of the business, toll revenue in September was 0.4% higher than the same month of the previous year. The number of passing vehicles is + 1.1%. The breakdown is that the toll income is high-speed, plus 0.8%, and the general fee is minus 3.5%. This is due to the fact that Seisho By-Pass was damaged by Typhoon No. 9 and the road was closed, and Odawara-Atsugi Road was given free measures. The breakdown of the number of passing vehicles is + 4.1% for expressways and -11.2% for general charges. This is also for the same reason as the price.
The ETC discount amount is 14.1 billion yen, and the ETC discount rate is 21.9%.
Please refer to the prices and the number of vehicles that pass when Odawara-Atsugi Road and Seisho By-Pass are excluded for reference.

The construction situation has not changed from the previous month. Later, I will explain the topics of the construction business and maintenance service business again.

Regarding the successful bid rate for construction contracts for major construction types, there were 19 contracts for major construction types in September, and the average successful bid rate was 86.94%.

Next is the status of ETC. Comparing October 5th to 11th and September 7th to 13th, the average daily usage is + 1.6% and the usage rate is minus 1.9%. This is because there were three consecutive holidays in October. Looking at the breakdown, the usage rate on weekdays is 74.7%, and that on weekends and holidays is 64.8%. The relationship between weekdays and holidays is about the same as the previous month.

SA sales were up 1.7% year-on-year. The breakdown is + 5.9% for the food and beverage department, + 6.9% for the product sales department, + 2.9% for the service department, and minus 9.6% for the gasoline department. Overall, it is + 1.7%. I think the fact that there were two consecutive holidays had a big impact. The above is the current state of the business.

Next is the topic. We will report 2 cases related to construction and 4 cases related to maintenance and service. First, the completion of Kiyosu JCT on the Higashi-Meihan Expwy. This was announced on the 15th with Nagoya Expressway. It's not news, but I handed it out as a reference today. It can be said that the road conditions around Nagoya are improving little by little.

The second topic will be announced at the same time today. Gotomaki PA Tokai-Kanjo Expwy will be completed on December 16th. It is an unmanned PA with only a restroom. The completion ceremony will be held from 10:00 on December 16th, and the service will start from 13:00.
A community-contribution vending machine will be installed in this PA. It has already been implemented in other places, but it is to provide drinks free of charge in the event of a disaster. We are also focusing on environmental measures, such as using solar power generation and wind power generation, adopting eco-friendly products, crawls ivy on the fence to take measures against the sun, and using photocatalyst to prevent wall stains. We are incorporating new ideas such as taking measures.
We will continue to actively promote the eco-friendliness of SA / PA as an important pillar of our environmental measures.

The third and subsequent four topics are related to maintenance and services.
Regarding "Implementation of measures to prevent reverse driving and accidental entry at high speeds", especially at Nagoya IC, there were many accidental intrusions and reverse driving, which sometimes led to accidents. As stated in the materials, we have taken various measures such as road markings, barricade installation, and sign installation. In addition, we have taken new measures. Nagoya IC, color pavement in the entrance lane of the IC and large signs prohibiting U-turns are installed. As a result of taking various measures at other ICs, the number of accidental intrusions has decreased. Wrong-way driving does not occur frequently, but there are many mistaken intrusions, and there were about 9 cases a day at the Nagoya IC. Currently, there are 3 cases, and 5 cases on many days, so I think that some effects have been achieved.
I don't think I've done everything with this. I would like to continue to think about various methods and implement them.
Attachment-1 of the material you have is attached with a photo of what you have done so far. Attachment-2 is a new measure to prevent reverse driving and accidental entry at the Nagoya IC. It is becoming clear that if you devise various ways to make a large sign that is easy to see and that you can read it and decide what to do, it will be effective.

The "Guide to Be careful of High Speed Driving" is published, but this content was explained at a press conference last month. Please see the explanation paper attached.

Next is "Efforts for comfortable driving on the Chuo Expressway." There is a section between Nirasaki and Suwa Minami that is paved with concrete for a total length of 36.8 km. As you can see in the material, I would like to put asphalt pavement on top of this concrete pavement to improve flatness, reduce vibration, reduce noise, and reduce noise to the surrounding area.
We plan to implement 16.5km this year. It will be the orange part of the material. When this is completed, 38% of the total will be completed. All 36.8km is scheduled to be completed by 2010, and after this, the concrete pavement on the Chuo Expressway Expressway will disappear.

Next is "About the damage of Seisho By-Pass related to Typhoon No. 9 and the effect of free measures".
As you know, Typhoon No. 9 struck from September 6th to 7th, and the road collapsed and some roads were closed. The road closure was restored as an emergency, and on September 27, it was provisionally opened in two lanes facing each other. Due to the closure of Seisho By-Pass, the company has decided to take free measures for Odawara-Atsugi Road. For the full-scale restoration in the future, the committee is examining the structure, construction method, etc., and is working diligently toward the early full-scale restoration.
I have explained this process with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on a case-by-case basis, but I have not reported what kind of effect the free measures had. I will explain the effect in the material. The implementation of free measures has almost eliminated the traffic congestion on National Route 1. The degree of congestion before the implementation of the free measures and the degree of improvement after the implementation are as shown in the material. The free measures ended on September 27, but no noticeable traffic congestion on the section of National Highway No. 1 has been observed even after the end.

Finally, I would like to report on the request and situation of Safety on the Expressway during the Tomei intensive construction period. From October 9th to 19th, there are 3 days left, but intensive construction is being carried out between Tokyo IC of Tomei Expwy and Komaki JCT, although it is the same time every year. So far, unfortunately, there have been 7 fatal accidents. The main feature of the accident is that it is related to a rear-end collision within a section of construction regulations or at the end of a traffic jam, or a large vehicle such as a truck or bus. NEXCO CENTRAL will provide traffic jam information and Construction Info through information boards, highway radios, and highway telephones due to intensive construction work, as well as construction regulation points using sign signs and sign cars And alerts for Safety on the Expressway. Details are also posted on our website, and we ask all drivers to pay attention and cooperate with us. We would like you to cooperate in safe driving, such as refraining from speeding and turning on the hazard lights in front of traffic jams to signal the following vehicles. Since the accident has continued recently, we are doing new measures in the last few days, such as adding LED signs, adding sign cars, and adding information content on the homepage as well. .. As a reminder, there have been 4 injuries and 3 fatal accidents so far this year. Last year there were 4 injuries and 0 fatal accidents. There are 15 injuries and 2 fatal accidents. I was struck by the thought that it had decreased a little, but since it has increased again this year, I decided to do what we could from the perspective of safe road management, and actually did what I thought was good. The situation is that we are moving to.
That is all for my report.

(Moderator)

If you have any questions, thank you.

(Reporter)

Lastly, I would like to talk about the accident during concentrated construction. Various companies provide you with information such as radio and internet, and it may be a direct driver problem, but I think that this is sufficient as to how you are accepting the current situation. I would like to ask you the question.

(Chairman)

Anyway, I want to do as much as I can. Since we have accumulated many years of experience, we would like to take all possible measures based on that. This is the basic stance. As I mentioned earlier, we have carried out some specific actions. In addition, since it is a traffic issue, I would like to work with the police high-speed corps to take measures while consulting. There may be some criticism as to whether or not all measures can be taken in the true sense, but at least all the measures that can be conceived at this point will be taken to ensure safe driving on the Expressway. I think it has to be useful.

(Reporter)

This intensive work will be completed until the 19th, so what kind of place do you want to emphasize while various measures are being taken?

(Chairman)

After all, I think the beginning is to notify you as long as possible when traffic jams occur. For that purpose, we will increase the number of sign cars, increase the LED signs, and make it possible to notify the latest information on highway radios and highway telephones, so that the driver can see it immediately if you see it on the homepage. I think the first and foremost thing is to get a good understanding of the current road conditions. On top of that, I think that we would like to ask the drivers for their cooperation.

(Reporter)

I wonder if the detour discount on the Isewan Isewangan Expressway has already ended, but what is the result?

(Chairman)

I'm still trying to figure out what the final figures were, but I'm not in a situation where I can answer now, but it seems that it was quite effective, so the driver moved to the Isewangan Expressway, I think it can be said that the traffic congestion on the Line has been alleviated considerably. If the number is fixed, I would like to report it again.

(Reporter)

Many local organizations, such as the Aichi Prefectural Truck Association, think that lowering the fare on the Isewangan Expressway will increase the amount of traffic, but the chairman also agrees with that idea. is it.

(Chairman)

Rates problem is there is a lot of complex circumstances quite, but I do not have is collectively if as is currently still thinking that one should do, Isewangan Expressway there no room for consideration somehow the rates of passage, a request that We are getting it from the locals, and we are now wondering what to do. Currently, new social experiments are being conducted in various places on a nationwide scale. Whether or not they can be incorporated into such experiments, or whether something can be changed on a regular basis, is a common issue for general toll roads. However, this is a study item from this year to next year. There are circumstances where we cannot decide this alone, so we will continue to take it as an issue and consider it.

(Reporter)

About the results for September. Please tell us your thoughts on the decrease in gasoline sales and why the unit price is increasing and the sales are decreasing.

(Chairman)

Gasoline prices have risen significantly last year as well. Especially in August, sales were great on the Expressway. This is because the price difference with other than the Expressway was large. After that, the price was revised in September, and I think there is one reason why such a factor remained. The other is that the price of oil is rising overall, so I think it is because the behavior of adding gasoline sparingly is appearing. I don't think I've analyzed everything clearly. What used to be revised once a month has been changed to once a week, and a mechanism has been introduced to prevent the price difference from outside the Expressway so much, so like last year, the Expressway The phenomenon of being expensive outside and cheap on the Expressway has disappeared, but I think that the effect of increasing gasoline prices on the whole cannot be ignored.

(Reporter)

I will talk about the accident earlier. It was said that there were 7 fatal accidents during the concentrated construction period, but if you understand the form of the 7 accidents, I would like to know and recognize the number of 7 accidents this year against 4 fatal accidents last year I would like to confirm, but please tell us whether it is unexpectedly large or it is still within the expected range.

(Chairman)

I think this is a really disappointing result. After all, you should aim for zero, and I think you shouldn't have the feeling that how many cases should be. However, it is a pity that this year has increased compared to last year, and I am eager to do something about it.
There were no fatal accidents last year. There are 15 injured accidents and 2 fatal accidents. There were 4 injuries and 3 fatal accidents this year, but one of them was a vehicle fire accident that occurred near the Miyoshi interchange on the Tomei Expressway, and it is completely unimaginable that a passenger car jumped into a place where construction was restricted. It's an accident like that. Then, the passenger car collided with the construction vehicle, and the driver who was driving the passenger car that jumped in and the worker who was in the construction vehicle died. This is a little unprecedented story, and I think it's a little difficult to typify. Other than that, there is something in common, and it's a situation where large vehicles such as trucks and buses collide from behind where traffic jams continue.
Therefore, we also ask the Trucking Association and the Bus Association to take great care in driving large vehicles with the cooperation of member companies.
In that sense, I think that is one of the reasons why the accident is getting bigger this year. There are five accidents this year that may cause a slight collision even in a rear-end collision. There were 9 accidents last year, and it was an accident at the end of the traffic jam, but this year it is a very rough way of saying that the accident is getting bigger because of the involvement of large vehicles, but I feel that it can be categorized like that. doing.

 

(Moderator)

If there are no other questions, we will end the 24th regular press conference.
Thank you for being busy today.

(Chairman)

Thank you very much.