BEIJING — China logged higher road transport efficiency after it removed all expressway toll booths at provincial borders at the end of last year to address expressway traffic congestion, according to officials with the Ministry of Transport (MOT) on May 19.

Congestion at expressway entrances stretching over 500 meters dropped 16.68 percent year-on-year, and clogged roads stretching over 1,000 meters went down 13.92 percent, pointing to evidence of an improved road network, Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng told a press conference.

On Dec 31, 2019, China replaced 487 expressway toll booths at provincial borders with a non-stop electronic toll collection (ETC) system.

Cars using ETC devices to pass the entrances and exits accounted for 64.09 percent of the total number of vehicles on May 17, up 21.89 percentage points from last year, data showed.

During the COVID-19 epidemic period, the country decided to scrap all tolls nationwide from Feb 17 until the end of the epidemic prevention and control work.

Over 159 billion yuan (about $22.4 billion) of expressway tolls was waived from Feb 17 to May 5 in a bid to facilitate smooth transportation flows and the resumption of work amid the epidemic.

The ministry is expected to further reduce logistics costs of 130 billion yuan this year by streamlining administrative processes to ease enterprises' burdens, according to Dai Dongchang, vice-minister of transport.