Skip to main content

Vietnam launches project to integrate the country's ETC systems

As part of a master plan for its highways, Vietnam is pushing ahead with a demonstration project aimed at integrating the country’s electronic toll collection (ETC) systems. Vietnam is making steady progress in introducing ETC systems into the country's expressway network, but many are calling for the country to integrate its three separate communication modes currently in service – active dedicated short range communications (DSRC), passive DSRC and radio frequency identification (RFID). The Director
September 14, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
As part of a master plan for its highways, Vietnam is pushing ahead with a demonstration project aimed at integrating the country’s electronic toll collection (ETC) systems.

Vietnam is making steady progress in introducing ETC systems into the country's expressway network, but many are calling for the country to integrate its three separate communication modes currently in service – active dedicated short range communications (DSRC), passive DSRC and radio frequency identification (RFID).

The Directorate for Roads of Vietnam (DRVN) and Vietnamese Ministry of Transport (MOT) have signed a memorandum of agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Sojitz Corporation and the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank).

The focus of the demonstration project will be on developing a new ETC system which integrates the three existing formats. Data from the new system will be collected from the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City in the country's south. Based on the project, MHI, Sojitz and VietinBank also aim, with support from DRVN/MOT, to create a second project involving an intelligent traffic system (ITS).

Some two million vehicles are currently registered in Vietnam and new registrations are increasing at a rate of 120,000 to 150,000 each year. In December 2008 the Vietnamese government, in anticipation of the country's shift to a motorised society in the future, formulated a master plan for the nation's expressways. The plan covers 22 routes spanning a total distance of 5,873 kilometres (3,649 miles) and its execution requires a total investment of US$48 billion.

Under the plan, ITS technology is to be introduced to the major expressways in order to enhance their safety and driving comfort in the coming era of motorisation. The plan calls for progressive introduction of traffic control, ETC and other sophisticated systems going forward.

Applying the knowhow they will accumulate from the newly agreed demonstration project, MHI, Sojitz and VietinBank look to make important contributions to the development of Vietnam's road transport networks in the years ahead.

Commenting on the project, a spokesman for DVRN said, “In order to meet the highest demand of traffic drivers and toll collection service users, deploying integrated solution for the three existing formats including DSRC active, DSRC passive and RFID plays an important role.”

Related Content

  • Dubai metro - the world's longest automated rail system
    July 31, 2012
    David Crawford reviews the recent opening of Dubai's Red Line. The US$7.6bn Dubai Metro, the Phase I Red Line of which started partial operation in September 2009, will be the world's longest driverless rail system on its planned completion in 2011. With a total length of some 75km, it will then overtake the 68.7km Vancouver SkyTrain and be able to carry over 1.2 million passengers on a typical day.
  • Eurasia tunnel opens
    December 22, 2016
    Turkey’s Eurasia tunnel, which links the European peninsula with the motorway network on the Asian side, has opened to traffic. The 5.4km long two-story tunnel, which is expected to alleviate Istanbul’s heavy congestion, aims to cut the travel time between the two sides of Istanbul by 85 minutes to only 15 minutes. Around 120,000 cars and light vehicles are expected to travel through the tunnel each day. The project also includes the construction of an additional 10km of access roads, two toll plazas
  • Kenya WIM system cuts four days off journey times
    March 18, 2014
    Shem Oirere looks at how weigh-in-motion is helping to streamline the trucking industry in Kenya. Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy, is streamlining trucking operations on its section of the 8,800km Northern Corridor. It is both reducing the number of weighbridges and automating the remaining ones in an effort to improve efficiency and eliminate corruption.The Northern Corridor is a major gateway through Kenya to the landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sou
  • Doha implements traffic control system
    November 21, 2012
    Expansion of ITS systems has accelerated in Qatar this year, with rapid deployment of a traffic control system in Doha. Less than 10 years from now an extensive system of ITS technology will be operating in Qatar, informing and directing users of the country’s roads. That can be stated with confidence for a number of reasons: the world’s richest country per capita will host the World Cup in 2022 and is understood to be planning to develop sophisticated systems of ITS for road safety and traffic managemen