Expressway charges changing again > ETC = worthless

[frannyo 2]

Seems the expressway charges are changing again, and basically the ETC is going to be worthless...

 

Limitof 1000 yen for K cars

Limit of 2000 yen for normal cars

 

That's for any day and other discounts don't count.

 

So basically for long trips - and weekdays - it's ok, though double what it was at the moment on weekends for people with ETC, but more expensive for shorter.

 

What happened to the "manifesto" of free? Seems the prices are basically going up! And seems strange not to have some kind of waribiki for all the people who have bought ETC.

[RobBright 35]

the "manifesto" was suggested by the LDP wasn't it? haven't kept up with Japanese "politics" of recent as,..., well it's boring.

[muikabochi 208]

Manifesto of the people who have just changed the rules.

[rach 1]

So the 1000 yen weekend deal will be off the table? And no discounts for people with ETC?

[muikabochi 208]

Seems that way, rach.

[RobBright 35]

but is the limit daily?

[muikabochi 208]

I presume it is "one trip". After all, it'snot calculated using ETC, anyone can use it.

 

So if you come off the expressway and then get back on it later on, that'll be two trips and you pay twice.

[1 4]

Surely politicians aren't going back on their word?

I refused to believe that!

[thursday 1]

Tokyo Bay Aqua Line. 3000yen. Don't use it, a whole tank of petrol costs less than that.

[NoFakie 45]

Don't you get points with an etc?

 

The 1000 yen is for cars with good mileage, not just keis. I'm guessing that means a Fit, Vitz, Swift, Tiida, Prius, Insight ....

 

It's not what they promised, but as long as they bring in the 26000 a month per kiddie, it won't lose them many votes. Highway tolls is small change by comparison.

[Curt 1]

They should scrap that too!

 

What car you use thursday? Mine takes up to 7000 yens worth

 

Curious change in the expressways strategy, though I heard that some parts will be free still.

[joshnii 2]

I believe the stretch from Niigata to Tainai will be free. Should be too, one lane expressways really aren't the same experience as 2+ lanes. Get behind a slowy and you almost can get there as fast on normal roads.

[TeddyBoy 0]

I thought it didn't sound too bad when I realised that all the other discounts that we have now will be voided.

 

Objection!

[bobby12 0]

The carrot was held only briefly before our noses before our master swiftly took it away upon reaching the destination.

[brit-gob 9]

Looks like they are rethinking.

Or maybe not.

[grungy-gonads 54]

Hope they do a u-turn on these silly new rates.

Don't lie to us politicians!

[mina2 6]

Did anyone else see the Sunday night news/analysis programme last night, the one with Crystal announcer? They were talking utter bullshit about this, almost trying to convince people that paying 5000 yen rather than the expressways being free would benefit the general public.

 

They were spouting lots of data from the govt, one interesting pieces being that on average Japanese people spend 30 hours in congestion on expressways per year. Yeah right.

 

 

It was like on big govt propaganda piece to justify these coming 'price rises'.

[Thundercat 60]

My ETC paid for itself a few times over since we got it last year. In fact I've probably saved 5万 or 6万　in just a year. As long as it never goes back to how expensive it used to be I'll be happy.

[bobby12 0]

I agree with the news report, ETC 1000yen was a dumb idea and it just made it unbearable to drive during busy periods.

 

I liked it how it was before that, with the big nighttime discounts.

 

I think something like 5000yen instead of 1000 would be perfect, and they should keep punishing non-ETC users as much as possible by charging them at least double.

[muikabochi 208]

1000 yen great with me.

 

Used it yesterday a trip that would normally cost about 6200 yen return cost us 2000 yen.

 

I have used it a fair few times in the last year and not once have I encountered any kind of congestion.

 

Charge people in congested areas. Leave the rest of the expressways as it is now to encourage people to use them.

[Thundercat 60]

Driving off peak hours is basically the only way to save your sanity on the highways here. I have to disagree with the idea that the reduced rate was a bad idea. The bad idea is not planning your trip properly and getting stuck in mad traffic. I use the Tomei Expressway a lot and have rarely had problems with congestion even during national holidays... I also only drive early a.m. or late p.m. so it makes a big difference.

 

In fact, in this area the rural roads got A LOT busier as a result of the reduced high way toll. People from further away have been making the trip here now and absolutely killing the local roads in Izu peninsula. I guess that was always the point though, wasn't it?

[muikabochi 208]

I don't know about other expressways, but the ones in Niigata are free-flowing pretty much all the time. They are busier now on holidays than they used to be, but not too busy to stop you from motoring along at 100+kmh.

 

(Yes I know the Kanetsu from Yuzawa towards Tokyo gets bad in winter, but that has always been the case. In fact, better now than it used to be but that is because of the downturn in number of skiers).

[loaf of bread 0]

The big point here is the fact that they seem to be going back on their promise to make expressways 'free', so soon after making that promise as well. Not even delaying that, but actually effectively making them more expensive.

[thursday 1]

that's politicians for you.

[bobby12 0]

As I said earlier in the thread, the discount was just a carrot to get everyone to switch over to ETC, and it is now being removed.