Are all expressway toll stations ETC?
4 Answers
Expressways are not entirely equipped with ETC toll stations; there are also manual lanes available for vehicles without ETC. Vehicles using manual lanes need to take a toll card and pay the fee at the exit based on the toll card. Benefits of installing ETC: Time-saving: Eliminates the hassle of waiting in line; Green and eco-friendly: Promotes green and low-carbon travel, as vehicles pass through toll stations without stopping, reducing noise and exhaust emissions, thereby minimizing pollution; Reduced wear and tear: Saves costs by decreasing the frequency of vehicle starts and brakes, lowering wear and fuel consumption. Users also enjoy a 5% discount on toll fees; Improved efficiency: ETC lanes theoretically increase vehicle passing efficiency by 2-3 times, making traditional ETC more updated, faster, and more high-tech. Compared to license plate payment, ETC technology is more mature and advantageous.
During long-distance drives, I've noticed that while most toll stations now have dedicated ETC lanes, not all lanes are ETC-exclusive. For instance, we often encounter hybrid manual/ETC lanes that accept both ETC payments and cash. Especially during peak holiday periods, these hybrid lanes always have long queues. I remember last year at the entrance to Huangshan Scenic Area, they still maintained fully manual lanes, primarily to accommodate tourist buses. However, newly built toll stations nowadays are basically all equipped with ETC systems—even the highway that just opened in our county last year installed ETC sensor gantries. So friends who haven't gotten ETC should definitely check their routes in advance.
As someone who frequently travels across provinces for business, I've observed that provincial border toll stations have basically achieved full ETC coverage, but some remote mountainous exits still retain cash lanes. There's a detail many people don't know: manual toll windows now also accept WeChat Pay and Alipay. Last month at a service area in Jiangxi, I saw toll collectors holding QR code scanners. I recommend new drivers pay attention to the indicator lights above the lanes—green means ETC, while a red cross indicates a malfunction and the need to switch lanes. In fact, the biggest change after ETC popularization is the elimination of provincial border toll stations. Last year when driving on the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway passing through the Jiangxi-Hunan border, I drove straight through without stopping, saving half an hour of queuing time.
Last time I took the elderly on a self-driving trip, I noticed a phenomenon: the ramp toll stations in popular tourist cities actually retain more manual lanes. For example, the West Lake exit of Hangzhou Ring Road and the Yalong Bay exit in Sanya, mainly to accommodate out-of-town tourists. Here’s a little-known fact: during the early morning hours, some ETC lanes switch to manual mode. I encountered this at 2 a.m. on the G4 Xuchang section. Nowadays, some new toll stations are designed to be smarter, like certain exits in Guangdong where the ETC antenna is installed on the overpass bridge, allowing vehicles to pass through without slowing down. However, completely eliminating manual lanes is not yet realistic, as 30% of China's motor vehicles still do not have ETC devices installed.
