Responding to public criticism about high toll fees, China’s transport minister has called for better regulation and more transparent operation of the country’s toll ways, reported Xinhua.

“The scale of the development of toll ways must be strictly controlled and the toll pricing system must be improved,” said Li Shenglin. He added that fee collection and operation of those highways must be made public regularly.

The minister cited public dissatisfaction with the large number of tollbooths, high charges and poor services on some highways. Increasingly high tolls and the many illegal tolling stations have long been criticized by the Chinese public and contributed to rising logistics costs.

In August, the State Council issued new guidelines to gradually eliminate tolls on secondary roads, reduce toll gates and restrict the number of toll ways.

Road tolls account for nearly one third of the operational costs of logistics enterprises, according to statistics from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.