HCMC – After a month of launching electronic toll collection (ETC) in the city, the number of vehicles using the service has risen, according to the HCMC Department of Transport.
In August, some 2.76 million ETC-enabled vehicles passed through three toll stations in HCMC, namely An Suong-An Lac, the Hanoi Highway and the Phu My Bridge, accounting for 81.77% of the total.
The ETC usage rate has soared rapidly, hitting 75.87% at the An Suong-An Lac station, 87% at the Hanoi Highway station and 84.28% at the Phu My Bridge station.
As of August 30, the number of vehicles having ETC tags in HCMC had reached 552,323, accounting for 77.3% of the total.
The traffic flow at the toll stations has stayed relatively smooth since they began operating their ETC systems. The An Suong-An Lac station, in particular, has seen an improvement in traffic, although congestion remains at its two manual toll collection lanes at rush hour.
However, the rate of failed tag readings at toll stations has significantly risen, particularly with the ePass tags provided by Viettel Group’s Vietnam Digital Transport JSC (VDTC).
According to data from the Phu My Bridge station, the VDTC tag reading failure rate was some 10.2%, whereas it was approximately 2.8% for the VETC Electronic Toll Collection Company’s e-Tags.
Previously, the station’s tag reading error rate was only 0.5%, the local media reported.
The operation of the ETC systems at the toll stations has also faced several other problems, including tag-related errors, driving on the wrong lane and personnel shortage.
The HCMC Department of Transport will plan to phase out manual toll collection at the city’s road toll stations.
