Time for another Japan Blog!
We were picked up by this van and there was a check point! The driver was a decent looking smart guy who bowed and we did the same!
It is a routine in Japan! The bowing! Like how in India we do Namaskara! They bow and say Arigato!
But after that the whole journey was in silence because we were told mainly by my daughter that we must not talk loudly!
So the blog is not about that! Like I mentioned we were approaching a toll point or a check point with the usual SLIDING gate!
Now as we all do or as every normal person in India who is not a VIP (which is most everyone of course!) does; we SLOW down!
But this driver sped up! The gate was still down and he was approaching him with the speed of a bullet! We were already silent but this act for the ones who have just landed in Japan was a shocker!
Our imaginations grew wild and we were so shocked and stopped breathing! It was so silent you could hear a YEN DROP (it’s Japan you see!)
Then within a limit of microsecond and a distance of may be a few centimeters the gate just raised! With a big WHEW from all of us though for the driver it was routine!
Apparently Norway introduced the world’s first electronic toll collection (ETC) system using transponders in Bergen in 1986!
Later milestones include Trondheim launching the first fully unaided full-speed electronic tolling in 1991, Italy deploying the first national-scale system (Telepass) in 1989, and Canada’s Highway 407 opening as the first fully automated all-electronic toll highway in 1997!
India introduced the FASTag system on December 4, 2014, as a pilot project on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai stretch of the Golden Quadrilateral. The electronic toll collection program was later rolled out more widely and eventually made mandatory for all four-wheeled vehicles nationwide by February 15, 2021!
Now it is a real comfort since it takes just a few seconds to READ! I still remember the clamour for change and the huge queues and the toll booths used to be nightmare!
Today during a similar road trip we were remembering that scene in Japan and also saw how effective the FAST TAG is here! Here of course the fast tag is also real fast and good but we DO SLOW DOWN since it takes a few seconds to read!
It is better this way here! After that fast ride on the highway we like to slow down and enjoy the ride! Like we enjoy our movies and directors like Vishal!
A quick sketch and blog after more than 11 hours of continuous driving!
Not bad!
Shub ratri…
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