Exploring new options to beat congestion at toll plazas, NHAI will roll out an experiment of gantry-based tolling system on the Panipat-Ambala stretch of NH-44. In gantry-based tolling system, there will be no toll gate and the gantry placed above the entire width of the road will be fitted with advanced equipment to read RFID card and registration number plate etc.
NHAI had been preparing to introduce this new tolling system which will enable commuters to zip through toll plazas even at 100-120 kmph speed and charges will be automatically deducted from the tag. But before rolling it out, it required to try out the system in India. IHMCL, a company set up by NHAI to deal with all issues relating to traffic and tolling, has invited applications for setting up of six multi-lane free-flow RFID gantry-based tolling at three locations including three intersections of NH and state Highways.
Currently, there is no Indian firm with experience in this field and hence foreign players may join hands with Indian partners to bid for the pilot. Sources said the gantries will be in addition to the existing toll plazas, but commuters won’t be charged twice. They added the technology player will be tasked to capture and uniquely identify all the FASTag-enabled vehicles passing through the gantry during the pilot project.
The gantry equipment will consist of ANPR cameras which can capture licence plate image of all vehicles passing through the gantry even at the speed of 150 kmph.
“If the pilot works successfully, NHAI would fast-track introducing the system in certain stretches. However, enforcement has to be strict to ensure that every user pays toll and vehicles without tags don’t take advantage of the system and pass through toll plaza without paying the user fee,” said an official. The government has been struggling to reduce the congestion at toll plazas even years after launching the smart tags for seamless drive on highways.
