The latest high-performance version is here! The real purpose of the more than 300 newly installed “Orbis-like” units on highways.

The number of “Orbis-like” vehicles is increasing rapidly.

Have you ever had the chilling experience of seeing an “eerie surveillance device” suddenly appear over your head when you are driving on a highway late at night? There is a square antenna on a pole, a camera staring at the road surface, and a black box that appears to be an infrared strobe. Even more eerie is the fact that the equipment sometimes glows red for a brief moment while driving at night.

I wondered if there was an “Orbis” (automatic speed enforcement system) in such a place. ……?

Without thinking, I put my foot on the brake pedal and check the speedometer. However, I could not find the blue warning sign that said “Automatic Speed Control System Installed on Route” which is supposed to be placed in front of the Orbis.

In fact, these mysterious devices are now present on many expressways throughout Japan. There is speculation among drivers that they may be the new type of Orbis, or perhaps a new type of N-system (automatic license plate reader), but do you know what they are? Katsumi Osuga of “Orbis Guide,” a long-time researcher of traffic enforcement information nationwide, explains this unfamiliar device as follows.

This is not an ORBIS, but a set of communication antennas installed to comply with the new ETC late-night discount system.

According to Oosuga, the number of sightings has increased dramatically since around 1949.

The shape is very similar to the current mainstream fixed type Orbis called the LH system. The pillar that straddles the road is equipped not only with an antenna for communication, but also with a camera for taking pictures of the vehicle and a lighting device for night photography. The difference is that the LH system has red lights on the pole and white line markers on the road surface, while the ETC antenna set does not.

A typical installation site is the section from a junction to the next interchange. In many cases, they are installed several kilometers before the interchange.

The installation is “complete,” but ……

This equipment is a communication facility to comply with the new system of late-night tolls on expressways, which is scheduled to start in FY’26 or later. Specifically, it is used to record the license plate number and passing time of a passing vehicle, and to identify “when” and “which route” the vehicle traveled. While the previous late-night discount system used only the “time of passage at the entrance and exit” to determine the discount, the new system requires an accurate understanding of the “section actually traveled” by the vehicle. For this reason, antenna sets have been installed throughout the nation’s expressways so that the routes traveled by vehicles can be accurately determined.

We asked NEXCO East Japan how many antenna sets have actually been installed.

NEXCO Central Japan and NEXCO West Japan have installed antennas in 114 locations in our service area (East Japan area).

The installation of antennas was completed by the end of fiscal 2012 not only in NEXCO East Japan, but also in all three NEXCO companies. However, the actual operation of the system has been delayed significantly from the original schedule. Why is there no time frame for the start of operation, even though the equipment has already been installed? In addition to the complexity of the new system, there have been a series of “serious troubles” with the existing ETC system.

The new system was originally scheduled to be operational around March 2013, but after two delays, no concrete date has been set for the launch of the new system. The decisive factor was a widespread ETC system failure that occurred on April 6, 2011, within NEXCO Central Japan, disabling ETC service at 106 locations on up to 17 routes in Tokyo and 7 prefectures, and requiring approximately 38 hours for full restoration. The failure also occurred in connection with the new late-night discount system, forcing a temporary suspension of the system’s maintenance.

NEXCO East Japan told FRIDAY Digital about the reasons why the start date is still uncertain,

The new toll system is being developed by multiple manufacturers. This has required more time than expected to coordinate system maintenance. In addition, following the system failure in April of last year, we needed to be more careful in the system maintenance, the series of operating environments, and the verification process to ensure that the system would operate without problems,” he explained.

He explains, “The installation of the machines was completed, but it was complicated. Although the installation of the machines has been completed, the software adjustments, which require complex processing, have yet to get off the ground. The combination of these two factors has led to widespread speculation that the new Orbis system may be the result of a combination of these two factors.

By the way, why has it been so difficult to build the system? It is because the fee calculation under the new system is more complicated than expected. The new system will determine the passing time, calculate the average speed, correct for the upper speed limit, and deduct rest periods. The new system calculates the discount by comparing all of these variables for each of the millions of vehicles in operation nationwide. The process is so large and complex that the exact calculation cannot be completed the moment a vehicle passes through an exit.

As a result, the exit toll indicator does not display the discounted fare. Until now, the “3-discount rate” was applied at the moment the vehicle passed through the toll booth, but under the new system, the vehicle is once settled at the “normal rate. After that, the driving data collected by “Orbis-models” across the country will be compiled by a server, and the data will be returned in the form of points, etc. in the following month or later. To receive the discount, you must register in advance for the “ETC Mileage Service” or “ETC Corporate Card. If you are not registered, the discount will not be applied no matter how much you drive late at night.

NEXCO’s Aim in Promoting the New System

The complexity of the new system is not merely a matter of time-consuming calculations; it is also a distortion of the discount rules themselves. Under the new system, the distance traveled is determined by calculating the “average speed” based on the passing time between ETC antennas scattered across Japan, but for standard vehicles, the upper speed limit for calculation is uniformly limited to “105 km/h.” The reason for this uniformity is that the speed limit is set by NEXCO.

NEXCO East Japan explains the reason for this uniform speed limit as follows.

In the nationwide expressway network, it is difficult for the system to grasp the speed limit for each section and temporary restrictions due to weather conditions in real time, and to set the upper limit individually. Therefore, we have decided to set a uniform upper limit.

In other words, even if you drive at the speed limit on a 120 km/h section such as the New Tokyo-Nagoya Expressway, you will only be counted as driving at 105 km/h for the purpose of discount calculation. The difference of 15 km would be rounded down to the nearest 15 km, even if the trip is made late at night.

Another issue that affects long-distance drivers is the treatment of rest periods: if a driver travels for more than 4 hours, the distance traveled equivalent to 30 minutes (0.5 hours) is automatically excluded from the discount from a safety standpoint, regardless of whether or not the driver actually took a rest break. This is the rule. Combining the “105 km/h speed limit” and the “mandatory 30-minute deduction,” it is calculated that no matter how efficiently a driver drives late at night, the distance covered by the discount will have a physical limit of “105 km/h x 6.5 hours = 682.5 km.

The new fee system has been criticized by drivers as a “substantial price increase” and “a revision” due to a number of problems. However, NEXCO’s intention is clear.

The main purpose of the review of the late-night discount system is to eliminate the congestion caused by “waiting until midnight” near toll booths and dangerous parking. The current system, in which the toll is discounted by three percent for all traveled segments if the vehicle is driven even slightly between midnight and 4:00 a.m., will be changed to one that is more in line with the original intent of discounting only actual travel during the late-night period. Since the distance traveled is captured and calculated by new antennas, it is difficult to calculate the fare immediately at the exit, so the discount will be given at a later date.

The “Orbis imitation” is quietly waiting for the time when it will be put to practical use.