Can car owners drive on highways without ETC?

[LeAnnie]

It is possible to drive on highways without ETC. According to Article 19 of the "Notice on Vigorously Promoting the Development and Application of ETC on Highways" issued by the State Council, starting from 2020, vehicles without ETC will not enjoy toll discounts. In the future, only one manual lane will be retained at highway toll stations, and tolls can only be paid through manual lanes. Additionally, newly installed ETC devices cannot be used on highways immediately; they must be activated first. During free holiday periods, vehicles can still use highways. For users who have already installed ETC, passing through ETC lanes will not incur charges. ETC billing principle: Highways will have one or more ETC lanes. Through dedicated short-range microwave communication between the vehicle's electronic tag installed on the windshield and the microwave antenna in the ETC lane at the toll station, computer networking technology is used to settle transactions with banks in the background. This allows vehicles to pay tolls without stopping at the toll station, all based on the principle of passing first and deducting fees later. Benefits of installing ETC: Save time: Eliminates the hassle of waiting in line. Green and eco-friendly: Green and low-carbon, vehicles pass through toll stations without stopping, reducing noise and exhaust emissions and minimizing pollution. Reduce wear and tear: Saves costs, decreases the frequency of vehicle starts and brakes, and reduces wear and fuel consumption. Improve efficiency: The efficiency of ETC lanes can theoretically increase 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. More policy support: The State Council clearly stated in the "13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of a Modern Comprehensive Transportation System" that by 2020, key city clusters should achieve interoperability of transportation cards, significantly increase the proportion of vehicles using ETC, and set a target of 50% ETC usage rate for road passenger vehicles by 2020 in the main indicators of the 13th Five-Year Plan for comprehensive transportation development. More future possibilities: In addition to continuously improving the convenience of ETC installation and usage and increasing the ETC usage rate for passenger vehicles, efforts will be made to promote ETC usage for trucks and explore deeper integration of ETC systems with vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-road coordination, and other smart transportation development directions. This will provide car owners with comprehensive travel services, meaning more application scenarios will support ETC usage.