10/13/2005

Electronic toll collection in Japan tops 50%
KYODO–The transport ministry said Wednesday 50.2 percent of vehicles used the electronic toll collection system….The ministry has raised the target to 70 percent to be met by next spring. The ETC system is aimed at cutting back on the number of personnel who collect tolls and also helping to ease traffic jams…more…

The ETC electronic toll collection system (電子料金収受) is both boon and a bane of my existence. Kanagawa Prefecture (Yokohama region) paid for most of the cost of the ETC unit in my new car—it only cost me 12,000 yen or $104.79 USD. Kool. However, I have to pay massive tolls — 800+ yen — just to go the short 13km distence from Yokohama to Tokyo. Meh. Also the electronic toll collection system has not improved traffic flow all that much. However, it has saved the sad old men from slowly melting away into a cancerous pool of lung slime while working in the toll booths.