Symposium: Research and Development Activities of the Japanese ETC and its Implementation Perspective

ETC (Electronic Toll Collection System) which enables drivers to go through a toll road toll gate without stopping to pay the toll started its early stage of R & D in 1994 in Japan.ETC has already been implemented in several major countries since early 1990s. Japanese ETC is unique and challenging because toll roads are interconnected and form a countrywide network. ETC should be interoperable and highly accurate in order to be usable in any toll road in Japan.Japanese toll road authorities formed a R & D committee and made a thorough joint research with ten selected private sectors. Field tests were done in the field of dedicated short range radio communications and other toll gate lane operation technologies. Besed on the results and analyses of the field tests, Japanese toll road authorities compiled Japanese ETC specifications and published. Initial procurement of the ETC system devices such as on-board radio communications equipment and roadside radio communications antenna is scheduled to start in FY 1998.ETC will bring about great benefits for drivers and even for national economies. ETC equipped car drivers can go through the toll gates without stopping to pay the toll and therefore traffic backups in the toll plaza will be remarkably reduced. This will save driver's valuable time and even contribute to the global environment of air pollution and energy saving. ETC car drivers also can enjoy convenience when payng toll because they do not have to prepare toll road tickets and cash or other toll payment cards. ETC is even benefitial for toll road authorities because ETC equipped lanes can be totaly automatic and therefore can save toll collector's labor costs.Japanese ETC has just started its first stage of implementation. The key factor for the success is how to popularize ETC among cost and price sensitive drivers. Thorough study should be done for the effective marketing strategies.