Keelung residents will be able to start using the eTag, a new device for the freeway electronic toll collection (ETC) system, starting next Thursday.
The National Freeway Bureau said Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co (FETC) has only completed the infrastructure to process eTags at the toll stations in Sijhih (汐止) on Freeway No. 1 and Cidu (七堵) on Freeway No. 3.
As an incentive to use the new devices, the bureau said eTags users passing through these two toll stations would receive a 20 percent discount on peak hour fees between 4pm and 8pm. They will also receive a 5 percent discount when passing through the two stations during regular hours as well as other freeway toll stations.
The eTags would not be officially available to motorists nationwide until February, while freeway drivers would start being charged by the kilometer in January 2013, National Freeway Bureau Director-General Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁) said.
The bureau will need to install eTags in millions of registered vehicles within a year, he said, adding that neither the bureau nor the FETC had experience handling such a huge demand.
Given the short time frame, the bureau is using Keelung for a test-run to see what changes, if any, need to be made before the nationwide program is rolled out next year.
“We chose Keelung because the city tops other counties and cities by having 30 percent of its registered sedan owners using the ETC system. There are 8 million sedans registered in Keelung, which is about the appropriate size for a test program,” Tseng said.
In addition, motorists from Keelung commute to Taipei and so they must pass through Sijhih and Cidu when they coming to the capital, Tseng said.
Asked how eTag users would be charged when they pass through other toll stations, FETC spokesperson Lang Ya-ling (朗亞玲) said they could still drive through the ETC toll gates and that their toll fees would be collected using license-plate recognition technology.
Lang said Keelung motorists could start installing eTags this week, adding that they must drive the cars to an FETC retail store and have the eTag installed there.
Both the eTags and installation will be provided free of charge as long as motorists store NT$500 in their accounts to activate the service.
Motorists will be able to add money to their accounts either at FETC stores or at convenience chain-stores once the pilot program begins next week, Lang said, with a minimum of NT$500 required each time. However, motorists topping up their account at convenience stores will be charged a transaction fee of NT$5, she said.
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