HCMC – A traffic snarl-up hit the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway yesterday (July 26) as the operator of the road began electronic toll collection (ETC). ETC on this busy expressway was earlier planned to start early next month as required by the Government.
ETC is expected to help reduced traffic jams on the expressway, especially at the toll stations on weekends and holidays. In recent months, traffic congestion has become a common sight on the HCMC-Long Thanh section of the 55km expressway.
Data showed that around 55,000 vehicles use the expressway a day, meaning that this road has the highest traffic density in the country.
The expressway’s three toll stations – Long Phuoc, National Highway 51 ad Dau Giay – now have 25 ETC lanes.
But yesterday saw many vehicles having no e-tags or having no balance in their ETC accounts when entering the expressway, causing a traffic snarl-up at the toll stations, especially Long Phuoc and National Highway 51 stations on the HCMC-Long Thanh section.
For such vehicles, the Vietnam Expressway Corporation, the operator of the expressway, continues manual toll collection from now to August 1 but after that, they would be subject to financial sanctions as regulated if they fail to pay toll fees electronically.
