"With the inter-provincial toll stations abolished, I don't need to wait any more if I drive out of Sichuan taking the expressway." At 0:10 on January 1, Chang Jiangyuan, the truck driver who was transporting goods from Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province to Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province, said with ill-disguised excitement; he used to have to wait in line for at least half an hour at the toll station on the boundary between Sichuan and Shaanxi, but now that has been a history and much time can be saved for him.

　　At 0:00 entering 2020, the inter-provincial expressway toll station abolishing and system switching ceremony was held at the Sichuan branch venue at Qipanguan Toll Station on the Guangyuan-Shaanxi Section of the G5 Beijing-Kunming Expressway, marking the comprehensive abolition of the 19 toll stations on the boundary of Sichuan Province. The successful switch of the toll system marked the realization of non-blocking traffic between Sichuan and other areas in China through expressway, and the realization of "province-based billing and unified charging" of expressway toll nationwide.

　　Before the abolition of inter-provincial expressway toll stations, Qipanguan Toll Station on the Guangyuan-Shaanxi Section of the G5 Beijing-Kunming Expressway bore 40% of Sichuan's freight transport, with an average daily traffic flow of more than 10,000 vehicles, of which 70% were trucks. Now vehicles passing through Qipanguan don't have to queue to pay the toll, saving an average of nearly three minutes per vehicle.

　　"With the abolition of inter-provincial toll stations, I can save about RMB 200 in fuel for an one-way drive from Guangyuan City to Ningqiang County in Shaanxi Province." Chang Jiangyuan said, Qipanguan Toll Station is located on the boundary between Sichuan and Shaanxi, so the traffic flow is large, which used to cause traffic jam; he needed to stop from time to time between the inter-provincial toll stations in Sichuan and Shaanxi, which caused the waste of time and fuel and was troublesome.

　　Deng Hong, Deputy Director General of the Expressway Administration of the Department of Transportation of Sichuan Province, said that the abolition of inter-provincial expressway toll stations does not mean the abolition of expressway toll, and drivers leaving expressways still need to pay the toll at toll station. After the abolition of inter-provincial expressway toll stations, drivers entering and leaving expressways are still required to get the pass card at the entrance and return the pass card to pay the toll at the exit, and the passage mode and mobile payment method for ETC vehicles remain unchanged. "The only change is that the driver don't need to pay the toll at inter-provincial expressway toll stations," noted Deng.

　　In addition, the abolition of inter-provincial expressway toll stations does not mean the abolition of overloading inspection of freight vehicles. Starting from January 1, freight vehicles will be charged by vehicle (axle) model nationwide, weight inspection lanes have been built at the entrances of all toll stations, the system of "mandatory inspection of freight vehicles, illegal overloading prohibited" has been put into practice, and freight vehicles committing overloading or evading weight inspection will be prohibited from entering the expressway.

　　According to the general plan of the State Council and the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China on the abolition of inter-provincial expressway toll stations, Sichuan and Chongqing became the first pilot areas in 2018, with 10 expressway toll stations on the boundary between Sichuan and Chongqing abolished. With the inter-provincial expressway toll stations abolished nationwide and the system switched and connected to grid as scheduled since 0:00 on January 1, 2020, the remaining nine physical toll stations on the boundaries of Sichuan with Shaanxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and Gansu have all been abolished.