Will highways only allow ETC in the future?

[Daryl]

Highways do not exclusively use ETC. Vehicles without ETC can still access highways. According to regulations from the State Council, vehicles without ETC will not enjoy toll discounts. In the future, only one manual lane will remain at highway toll stations, where drivers can pay tolls manually. Additionally, newly installed ETC devices cannot be used immediately on highways—they must be activated first. During free holiday periods, vehicles can still use highways. For users with activated ETC, passing through ETC lanes will not incur charges. ETC toll deduction principle: Highways will have one or more ETC lanes. Through dedicated short-range microwave communication between the vehicle's on-board electronic tag (installed on the windshield) and the microwave antenna in the ETC lane, the system uses computer networking technology to settle payments with banks in the background. This allows vehicles to pass through toll stations without stopping, based on the principle of "pass first, deduct later." Benefits of installing ETC: Time-saving: Eliminates the hassle of waiting in queues; Green and eco-friendly: Promotes low-carbon travel by reducing noise and exhaust emissions since vehicles do not need to stop at toll stations; Cost-saving: Reduces vehicle wear and fuel consumption by minimizing frequent starts and stops. Users also enjoy a 5% discount on tolls; Improved efficiency: ETC lanes can theoretically increase traffic flow 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 explicitly stated in the "13th Five-Year Plan for the Development of a Modern Integrated Transportation System" that "by 2020, key city clusters should achieve interoperability with transportation smart cards, and the proportion of vehicles using ETC should significantly increase." The plan also sets a target of "achieving a 50% ETC usage rate for passenger vehicles on highways by 2020." More future possibilities: Beyond improving the convenience of ETC installation and increasing its usage rate among passenger vehicles, the future will also promote ETC adoption for trucks. Efforts will explore deeper integration between ETC systems and smart transportation developments like vehicle-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-infrastructure coordination, providing comprehensive travel services for car owners. This means more application scenarios will support ETC usage.