Is it necessary to apply for ETC?
2 Answers
It is necessary to apply for ETC. 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 toll fees can only be paid through manual lanes. Additionally, newly installed ETC devices cannot be used on highways immediately; they must be activated before normal use. During free holiday periods, ETC users can still use highways, and those with ETC installed will not be charged when passing through ETC lanes. ETC charging principle: There will be one or more ETC lanes on highways. Through microwave dedicated short-range communication between the vehicle's electronic tag installed on the windshield and the microwave antenna in the ETC lane of the toll station, computer networking technology is used for backend settlement with banks, achieving the purpose of vehicles paying toll fees 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 line; Green and environmentally friendly: Green and low-carbon, vehicles pass through toll stations without stopping, reducing noise and exhaust emissions and minimizing pollution; Reduced wear and tear: Saves costs, reduces the frequency of vehicle starts and brakes, and lowers wear and fuel consumption; Improved efficiency: The theoretical efficiency of ETC lanes can be increased by 2-3 times or more, making traditional ETC updates 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, the interoperability of transportation cards in key urban clusters will be basically achieved, and the proportion of vehicles equipped with ETC will be significantly increased." It also explicitly set the goal in the main indicators of the "13th Five-Year" comprehensive transportation development that "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 the ETC usage rate for passenger vehicles, the future will also promote the use of ETC for trucks and explore the deep integration of the ETC system with smart transportation development directions such as vehicle-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-road coordination, providing car owners with comprehensive travel services. This means more application scenarios will support ETC applications.
I find ETC incredibly practical, especially for someone like me who drives on the highway three to four times a week. Before, I always had to queue at toll booths, and during peak hours, it could take over ten minutes. After installing ETC last year, I can directly use the dedicated lane, basically without stopping. Plus, there's a 5% discount on toll fees, saving me two to three hundred yuan on fuel costs each month. Nowadays, the devices are provided for free by banks and can be installed on the windshield. The only thing to watch out for is the account balance—I once forgot to top up and couldn't pay, so now I've set up automatic credit card payments. Although mobile payment via QR codes is an option, ETC is more reliable when the signal at highway exits is unstable.
