April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's economic stimulus measures are about to unleash the nation's worst highway traffic jams, toll operators and police say.

Aso's 5 trillion yen ($51 billion) spending program announced in October included discounted expressway charges on holidays. As workers prepare for tomorrow's start of Golden Week, Japan's biggest spring break, police expect more than 70 million people to travel within the country, creating traffic jams of 60 kilometers (37 miles) or more.

“If there weren't the discount, I wouldn't be traveling to Aomori,” said Takeyuki Nagasawa, 32, who aims to drive 600 kilometers to the prefecture on the northern tip of Honshu Island. “I was thinking of going somewhere different, but when I worked out the budget, I found a one-way ticket by train or plane would equal the full cost of the Aomori trip.”

Aso cut the maximum highway toll price to 1,000 yen for any distance during weekends and holidays, starting last month and lasting until 2011. Without the reduction, Nagasawa's trip would cost at least 24,000 yen in tolls.

“During the Golden Week holiday this year we are going to see an increase in the number of people traveling, thanks to discounts in tolls, declines in fuel surcharges and the stronger yen,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Daiichi Life Research Institute Inc. He estimates Golden Week travelers will boost consumer spending by 22.3 billion yen and have a knock-on effect of 42.7 billion yen on the economy.

Four Holidays

Golden Week, typically from April 29 to May 5 is so named because 4 holidays fall within 7 days. About 21.9 million people will spend at least one night away from home during the week, up 3 percent from a year ago, and will spend about 898.1 billion yen, according to JTB Corp., Japan's biggest travel agency. Including day trippers, the number of holidaymakers will be about 70.5 million, up by 5.4 million from a year ago, Japan's National Police Agency said.

Japan's economy is forecast to shrink 3.3 percent the year started April 1 after consumer spending, accounting for more than half of the economy, fell in December to the lowest since the government started the consumer survey in 1982.

The government plans to reimburse highway operators with about 500 billion yen of taxpayers' money, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The budget was approved by the Diet, Japan's parliament, in March.

“We've asked the highway operators to increase the number of workers to the highest levels and take needed actions to deal with the worst-ever traffic,” a transport ministry official said by phone.

Temporary Toilets

Japan's four highway operators will take “considerable measures” to reduce congestion during Golden Week, the companies said in a joint statement on their Web sites. Staffing levels will be increased by 30 percent to manage traffic, while the number of toll-booth operators will be increased by 69 percent. The companies plan to set up 666 temporary toilets in congestion areas, triple the number a year ago.

“Our challenge is how much we can cut the traffic jams,” spokesman Osamu Iwasaki at Central Nippon Expressway Co., said by phone. The company will offer 5,000 yen shopping tickets for drivers who use highways during off-peak times around midnight.

West Nippon Expressway Co. will hand out disposable car toilets on May 2 at the three rest stations on Chugoku Expressway, spokesman Yoshinari Goto said by phone.

“We've taken this special action before when natural disasters disrupted traffic, but it's the first time we're doing it because of a traffic jam,” Goto said.

Since Aso's discount came into effect last month, traffic on some highways has already doubled at weekends, operators say. Seto Chuo Expressway, one of the bridges that connects Shikoku Island to Honshu, carried 2.3 times more drivers in the past month, said operator Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway Corp.

Noodle Run

One of them was Masanori Taniguchi, 34, who drove about 530 kilometers one weekend with his wife to visit Shikoku for bowls of the island's famous Udon noodles. The couple drove for seven hours to eat at four noodle restaurants during their two-day trip, sleeping in the car.

“We got trapped in a jam on the way back,” he said. “It was tiring to drive all that way, but we want to do it again to try out different places.” Taniguchi said. The toll discount saved him more than 20,000 yen.

For Golden Week, about 37,000 additional police will be on duty to deal with accidents, emergencies and crime around major tourist spots, the National Police Agency said.

Nagasawa is unfazed by the thought of the traffic snarls. He said he plans to sleep in his car during the four-day journey, to keep the cost of his trip below 50,000 yen.

“I heard the warning about the heavy traffic,” Nagasawa said. “It will be interesting to see how bad it will be.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Megumi Yamanaka in Tokyo at myamanaka@bloomberg.net; Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 27, 2009 22:00 EDT