Japan’s Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) System was introduced at a conference in Hanoi on April 5. According to Japanese experts, the system can be placed on any road to collect tolls from any vehicle using a so-called onboard unit (OBU). It can calculate post-paid and pre-paid tolls, as well as length-based and fixed-fee collection.

By early 2006, 11 million OBUs had been sold in Japan, raising the country's ETC usage rate to 60 percent, said Executive Director of the Highway Industry Development Organisation, Hideo Tsuji. The system, he said, helps reduce and gradually phase out traffic jams at  toll collection booths on highways, thus improving air quality and slowing down the global warming process.

Japanese delegates maintained that ETC systems could be adopted in Vietnam using the Active-Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) system, which is an information infrastructure capable of receiving and communicating a large volume of information at high speeds.

The system, which is believed to be highly reliable, should help improve the current sprawling and chaotic traffic situation in Vietnam.