Is it mandatory to apply for an ETC card?
1 Answers
It is not mandatory, but car owners are encouraged to apply. According to the regulations of the State Council, vehicles without ETC in 2020 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, highways can still be used. For users who have already installed ETC, passing through ETC lanes will not incur charges. The principle of ETC toll deduction: There will be one or more ETC lanes on highways. 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, and using computer networking technology for backend settlement with banks, the system achieves the purpose of vehicles paying tolls without stopping at road and bridge toll stations. All of this is based on the principle of passing first and deducting fees later. Benefits of installing ETC: Time-saving: Eliminates the hassle of waiting in queues; Green and eco-friendly: Low-carbon, as vehicles pass through toll stations without stopping, reducing noise and exhaust emissions and minimizing pollution; Reduced wear and tear: Saves costs by decreasing the frequency of vehicle starts and brakes, lowering wear and fuel consumption; Improved efficiency: Theoretically, ETC lanes can increase vehicle passing efficiency by 2-3 times, making traditional ETC faster, more advanced, 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, intercity transportation cards will be basically interoperable in key city clusters, and the proportion of vehicles using ETC will significantly increase." It also set a clear target in the "13th Five-Year" comprehensive transportation development indicators: "By 2020, the ETC usage rate for road passenger vehicles will reach 50%." 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 in the future. There will also be exploration of deeper integration between ETC systems and smart transportation development directions such as vehicle-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-road coordination, providing car owners with comprehensive travel services. This means more application scenarios will support ETC applications.
