SHENZHEN Expressway Co. Ltd. will launch an app for electronic toll payment on the city’s expressways in May, enabling motorists to pay road tolls without using cash or conventional ETC (electronic toll collection).

After car owners download the app, 深圳e交通, and tie their car license plates to their bank accounts, tollgates on the city’s expressways will automatically recognize the license plates and deduct toll fees from the owners’ bank accounts when the vehicles exit the expressways. The app accepts payment via WeChat Pay, Alipay and bank cards.

A driver using the app can pass through a designated lane at a tollgate in three seconds without having to stop to pay the toll.

The app is being tested at tollgates on some of Shenzhen’s expressways. During the initial stage of operation, the driver needs to get an expressway card at the entrance. At the exit, the driver needs to hand in the card, despite the fee having already been deducted automatically.

At Fumin Tollgate of Jihe Expressway, the company has set up lanes for testing app-based toll payment. The computer in the pavilion can automatically read the information from a vehicle as it approaches and let the driver leave after the driver has handed the expressway card to the fee collector. The whole process takes three seconds. It generally takes at least 10 seconds when a driver pays with cash.

The app will first be used on Shenzhen’s expressways, including Longda, Shuiguan, Yanba, Yanpai, Meiguan, Nanguang, Jihe and the Shenzhen section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Riverside Expressway. The feature will be expanded to cover other expressways in Guangdong Pro-vince once the payment method is adopted provincewide.

The expressway company will open special lanes for vehicles using the app at the toll gates on the city’s major expressways before the end of the year. At present, drivers can pay tolls with cash or use ETC. App-enabled toll payment is a new trend and an innovation in applying cloud computation, IoT and artificial intelligence technologies to a smart transport system.

(Han Ximin)