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HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Transport (MoT) wants up to 90 per cent of all vehicles installed with electronic toll collection (ETC) transponders this year.

There are currently 2.7 million vehicles registered for ETC services, equivalent to 60 per cent of the total number nationwide.

The focus has been put on promoting the service, diversifying top-up methods, increasing transponder installation spots, and issuing the toll tags at government agencies, departments, and residential buildings. 

Hà Nội – Hải Phòng Expressway has been selected for the ETC-only pilot programme, which will start this June.

The transport ministry’s report said: “The Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam is working with investors, the traffic police department, and localities where the expressway passes through to inform motorists before the pilot programme begins.”

Other toll booths are expected to have one hybrid lane each, which allows for both automatic and manual toll collection.

Due to COVID-19, progress on installing equipment for this type of lane is lagging behind schedule, said the report. The transport ministry is working with investors to accelerate the process, which is aimed to be completed during the second quarter of 2022.

Regarding the ETC system in projects under the management of Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), there are still multiple obstacles in the roll-out that need further instructions from the authorities.

The MoT said that the company was working on hiring ETC service providers for VEC-managed expressways with the allocated budget from the project.

VEC is assigned by the MoT to be the head investor and operator of five expressways, which are Cầu Giẽ – Ninh Bình, Nội Bài – Lào Cai, Đà Nẵng – Quảng Ngãi, Bến Lức – Long Thành and HCM City – Long Thành – Dầu Giây.

Among these five projects, only Cầu Giẽ – Ninh Bình Expressway has an operating ETC system for 15 out of its 40 lanes from June 10, 2020. The other highways are still using manual toll collection (MTC).

Based on the number of lanes, the traffic at the toll gates, and the ETC system capacity compared to that of MTC, VEC plans to invest in 140 ETC lanes in the immediate future to ensure consistency across the highways, and to respond to the demands. 

“With the approval of the Prime Minister, the suggestions of Commission for Management of State Capital (CMSC), the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Planning and Investment, VEC is accelerating the implementation process to finish selecting ETC service providers in Q2-2022, and to start installing and operating the system in Q3 this year”, said the transport ministry.

Deputy Prime Minister Lê Văn Thành said the process must finish on schedule according to the direction of the Government and National Assembly. Relevant individuals and departments will have to take responsibility in case of delays. 

A report on the result must be submitted to the Prime Minister before June 30, 2022. 

The MoT also asked the Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam to review and install toll tags on vehicles under its management. The department is also required to encourage the employees to have their personal cars registered for the service, scrapping manual toll collection from June 1, 2022. — VNS