On May 10, the State Council Information Office held a briefing on the cancellation of toll stations at provincial borders on expressways. Dai Dongchang, vice minister of the Ministry of Transport, said in response to a reporter’s question that the abolition of toll stations at provincial boundaries means the integrated operation of the entire network. The cancellation of provincial border toll stations has broken the previous pattern of charging and managing highway vehicles by province, and formed a trend of integrated operation services for the entire network. The premise is to unify traffic policies and standardize operation management.
According to Dai Dongchang, according to preliminary statistics, highways in about 27 provinces currently impose restrictions on vehicles transporting hazardous chemicals, but the restricted time periods are also inconsistent. In 17 provinces, motorbikes are banned from highways , in 17 provinces, the catalog of fresh and live agricultural products eligible for the “green channel” policy has been expanded, and in 25 provinces, local toll reduction and exemption policies have been introduced. Most of them require manual inspection, and some are only for specific areas and specific groups, so it is difficult to realize fast charging without parking, and it does not conform to the principle of fair competition. Inter-provincial policies are not uniform, which is not conducive to the safe and convenient travel of the public . More than 200 local policies issued by 29 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) across the country, as well as the “green channel” policy for the transportation of fresh and live agricultural products, and the free passage policy for small passenger cars on major holidays all need to be optimized and adjusted. In particular, it is mentioned that it is necessary to study and unify the management policy of motorcycle highway traffic.
Dai Dongchang pointed out that in the next step, the Ministry of Transport will further in-depth research with relevant departments, focusing on cleaning up policies that hinder a fair and orderly unified market across the country, as well as policies that require manual inspection, and eliminate obstacles that affect fast traffic without parking.
The specific timetable is as follows:
Issue various plans and requirements before the end of May
including technical standards,
Design plans and engineering plans, etc.
Project construction completed from June to October
Including the reconstruction of toll gates,
Renovation of toll stations and upgrading of hardware and software, etc.
Beginning of continuous debugging and testing in November
At the end of December, the old and new systems will be switched
Within this timeframe,
Timely organization system switching,
Make sure to complete the cancellation of the National Highway
Tasks of Provincial Boundary Toll Stations
That is to say, after December, the national highways will realize the unified management of the whole network. According to the national law, motorcycles are allowed to pass on the highways. regulations will cease to exist.
