An ETC lane in Fushan toll station in Yantai, Shandong province [Photo/JiaoDong.net]

In 2015, nine highway toll stations in Yantai, Shandong province will be equipped with electronic toll collection (ETC) lanes. At the end of the year, the ETC coverage rate of Yantai will amount to 97 percent.

ETC aims at eliminating the delay on toll roads by flagging off electronic collecting of tolls. At present, a car has to spend 14 seconds to pass a toll station through a manual toll collection lane. However, through an ETC one, it only costs three seconds. This in turn will decrease one's fuel consumption by 20 percent and also enhance the toll passing efficiency. In Shandong province, ETC users are also entitled to a 5-percent discount on highway tolls.

By now, the ETC lanes have covered 22 provinces and municipalities across the nation.

Yantai has constructed 52 ETC lanes in 26 toll stations, issued 67,000 Lutong cards (ETC card used in Shandong) and installed 55,000 vehicle-carried electronic labels. The non-cash payment of highway toll accounts for 31.7 percent of the city's total highway tolls. One third of vehicles in the city have adopted the ETC system.