Is it necessary to install ETC?
1 Answers
It is necessary to install 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 tolls can only be paid through manual lanes. Additionally, newly installed ETC devices cannot be used on highways immediately; they need to be activated before normal use. During free holiday periods, ETC users can still use highways, and no fees will be deducted when passing through ETC lanes. ETC Billing Principle: There will be one or more ETC lanes on highways. Through dedicated short-range microwave communication between the vehicle-mounted electronic tag installed on the windshield and the microwave antenna in the ETC lane, and using computer networking technology for backend settlement with banks, the system achieves the goal of vehicles paying tolls without stopping at 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: Reduces noise and exhaust emissions, minimizing pollution by allowing vehicles to pass toll stations without stopping; Reduced wear and tear: Saves costs by decreasing the frequency of vehicle starts and brakes, thus reducing wear and fuel consumption; Improved efficiency: ETC lanes can theoretically increase vehicle passing efficiency by 2-3 times, making traditional ETC more advanced, faster, and higher-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 smart cards will be basically realized in key city clusters, and the proportion of vehicles equipped with ETC will significantly increase." It also set a target in the main indicators of the "13th Five-Year" comprehensive transportation development plan: "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 adoption rate for passenger vehicles, efforts will be made to promote ETC usage for trucks in the future. There will also be exploration of deep integration between ETC systems and smart transportation directions such as vehicle-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-road coordination, providing comprehensive travel services for car owners. This means more application scenarios will support ETC usage.
