HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has asked the Việt Nam Expressway Corporation (VEC) to seek investments for non-stop toll collection systems on expressways under their management by the end of November.

Nội Bài – Lào Cai Expressway, for example, is a VEC project that came into operation in 2014.

As investment funds for construction are being finalised, the MoT said it was impossible for VEC to use the State budget to invest into the non-stop toll collection system on the expressway. VEC will have to seek private funding for the system. The residual State budget for this project has not been calculated.

Previously, the MoT asked VEC to research investments in Nội Bài – Lào Cai Expressway’s non-stop toll collection system under a public-private partnership. However, VEC has not yet submitted the proposal.

Regarding the Đà Nẵng – Quảng Ngãi and Bến Lức – Long Thành expressways, the MoT asked VEC to seek other capital sources to replace the funds from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). VEC has not responded to the demand.

Non-stop toll collection or semi-automatic toll collection stations are equipped with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system.

The RFID system will identify the car’s entry point and exit point and activate a camera to photograph the vehicle’s number plate while reading an IC card to calculate the charges for each type of vehicle.

The IC card will be issued to the driver at the first station of the expressway, and the driver will return it to a toll attendant before exiting.

The system will calculate the charge based on the type of automobile and the length of road the vehicle has travelled.

After the toll attendant receives cash from the driver, invoices will be printed for the driver and the barrier will be opened for the car to pass through. — VNS