Japanese expressways are not utilized as much as comparable expressways in the USA and European countries, This is because Japanese expressways aretoll roads, and the great distances between interchanges make them inconvenient to use. The reason why the interchanges are far apart is that each one requires expenses for construction of the toll booth, purchase of the lot, administration, etc. For the purpose of promoting the more effectiveuse of expressways, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport initiated a pilot program in which smart ICs - interchanges exclusively for ETC cars - were installed in existing test points all over Japan, beginning in October 2004, to reduce construction costs, improve convenience for drivers and revitalize the local economy. The utilization ratio of ETCs in Japan was 59.7% as of July 20, 2006. This means that one out of every two cars uses the ETC system. The companies that manage the Expressways are aiming for a utilization ratio of ETCs of 75% by the spring of 2007 and planto introduce a diversified and flexible charging system. In addition, they plan to introduce various services to promote the use of ETC such as theETC unit lease system and one stop service that enables the use of the ETC system instantly. Almost two years have passed since the smart IC pilot program began. While the utilization ratio of ETCs is increasing greatly, there is an expectation among users that the smart IC system will be shifted from the pilot program to full-scale service. For the covering abstractsee E134653.
Samenvatting