Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport has signed agreements for a demonstration project targeting the integration of Vietnam's expressway electronic toll collection (ETC) systems.
The deals are with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, 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 will be able to integrate the three existing formats - Active DSRC, Passive DSRC and RFID(Note).
DSRC (dedicated smart range communication) is an interactive communication system in which 5.8-GHz microwaves are emitted by both onboard units and roadside antennas. RFID will meanwhile be used to toll drivers based on identification of tracking tag.
Data from the new system will be collected from the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City, in the country's south. MHI, Sojitz, and VietinBank also aim to create a second project involving an intelligent traffic system (ITS).
Some 2 million vehicles are registered in Vietnam, and new registrations are increasing at a robust pace of 120,000 to 150,000 each year.
In December 2008, the Vietnamese government, in anticipation of the country's shift to a motorized 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 kilometers and its execution requires a total investment of $48 billion.
Under the plan, ITS technology is to be introduced to the major expressways to enhance their safety and driving comfort in the coming era of motorization. The plan calls for a progressive introduction of traffic control, ETC and other sophisticated systems.