Environmental Road Pricing is a differential tolling method which aims to encourage the use of roads which avoid residential areas and thereby improve the environment of residential areas. In this scheme, the tolls for roads located in areas such as coasts are set lower than those for roads running through residential areas. Environmental Road Pricing has been tested since 2001 on several expressways: Yokohama and Bay Shore Routes of the Metropolitan Expressway; and Kobe and Bay Shore Routes of the Hanshin Expressway. In the test, ETC technologies will be utilized, since they can track the routes used by vehicles, and allow vehicles to pass toll gates without stopping and thus alleviate congestion. The experiment is expected to reveal that the environmental impact near these routes will be significantly reduced by diverting large diesel vehicles, which discharge large volumes of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), onto roads along bays.
By setting the toll for route B lower than that for route A, the use of route B is encouraged and the environment near route A is improved.
Sections where Environmental Road Pricing will be introduced
Environmental Road Pricing
