Is there a toll if entering the highway before 12 o'clock and exiting after 12 o'clock?
2 Answers
Entering the highway before 12 o'clock and exiting after 12 o'clock falls within the free period and is not charged. However, if it exceeds the free period, a toll will be charged. The free period starts at 0:00 on the first day of the statutory holiday and ends at 24:00 on the last day of the holiday. For ordinary roads, the toll is determined by the time the vehicle passes through the toll lane of the toll station, while for highways, it is determined by the time the vehicle exits the toll lane at the exit. According to the implementation plan for exempting tolls for small passenger vehicles during major holidays, the free period applies to four national statutory holidays: Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Labor Day, and National Day, as well as the consecutive holidays determined by the State Council for these statutory holidays.
Last time I was on the highway, I specifically asked the toll collector about this. It can be quite troublesome if you enter the highway before the free holiday period starts. For example, if you take the card before 12 PM and exit after 12 PM, on regular toll days, you'll be charged for the entire distance. But during free holidays like National Day, you'll only be charged for the distance traveled before 12 PM. Nowadays, ETC is smarter, using segmented billing to divide your entire trip into several sections, calculating whether each section is free based on the actual time passed. However, there's a special case: if you took a physical card at a manual toll lane and are still on the highway when the free period starts, you'll need to surrender the card when exiting, possibly being charged based on the shortest path, which can be quite a hassle. My advice is, if you're close to the free period, just wait at the service area until 12 PM before exiting the highway.
