How navigation satellite-based tolling, live monitoring of plazas can lower wait times

How will it work?

The GIS-based software will provide the name and location of the toll plaza to the officials.

“It will also provide congestion alert and lane distribution recommendation, if the queue of vehicles at a toll plaza is more than the prescribed limit,” said MoRTH in an statement.

The ministry also said that as the toll plazas have been mapped across the country at respective NHAI field offices, the software will help the officials to get comparative traffic condition analysis on hourly, daily, weekly and monthly basis for the traffic queue & congestion.

Apart from this, the software will provide updates of current weather condition and information about local festivals. “This will help NHAI officials to take pre-emptive measures to manage the traffic load and decongest the toll plazas,” said MoRTH.

As of now, the software is being implemented at the 100 toll plazas. The Ministry said that this GIS-based software will be extended to more toll plazas in a phased manner.

What is satellite based tolling system?

MoRTH is currently working on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based tolling system, which is expected to replace the current FASTag toll collection system and provide a long-term solution for congestion at tolling booths. It will also provide distance-based tolling where users will pay only for the stretch they have travelled on a National Highway and free flow of Vehicles at High Speed.

On July 02, 2024, Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) issued a tender for the construction of free flow GNSS Lanes at toll plazas to implement GNSS based Electronic toll collection.

How will GNSS work?

According to IHMCL, the GNSS-based Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system will be implemented with the existing FASTag ecosystem. It will be initially used as a hybrid model where both FASTag and GNSS will operate simultaneously.

To implement the scheme, a dedicated GNSS lanes will be available at toll plazas to allow vehicles using GNSS-based ETC to pass through freely. After GNSS-based ETC will become more widespread, all lanes will eventually be converted to GNSS lanes. It will have advance reading/identification/enforcement equipment for vehicles so that valid vehicles gets a free flow pass.

When a vehicle passes through the toll gates, the toll charger will receive pings (distance and time stamp) of GNSS vehicles through On Board Unit or OBUs fitted in the GNSS vehicles. The OBUs of GNSS vehicles will be onboarded with the toll charger through Fintechs, similar to the issuer banks concpet under the current FASTag System. The payment mechanism shall be similar to the existing FASTag ecosystem, but would involve automatic debit and obviate the need for the boom barriers at toll plazas.

How will it help the users?

The introduction of the ETC system will remove all kinds of time lag that currently people face while passing through the toll plazas. Under the FASTag system, it has been observed that there are still considerable delays in reading the bar code and opening of the boom barrier. These delays sometimes lasts for up to a minute and causes vehicle pile ups. Due to this, many cases of arguments and fights with toll employees have also come to light.

However, the GNSS tolling system will remove all these kinds of obstructions as there will be no requirement of reader and boom barrier while passing through the toll Plaza. Also, people will be able to pass through the plaza at high speed and the money will be deducted automatically according to the distance travelled on National Highway.

How does present system work?

Currently, the Electronic Toll Collection in India is done through Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, commonly known as FASTag. It was launched in India in 2015 and Since February 2021, FASTag has been made mandatory for the payment of user fees at National Highway toll plazas, with a provision for a 100% penalty for cash or non-FASTag payments.

According to MoRTH, as of March 2024, more than 98% of user fee payments are made through FASTag at Toll Plazas.

The National Highway Authority of India is responsible for the development, maintenance and management of the National Highways. Currently, out of about 1.50 lakh km of National Highways declared by MoRTH, about 70,000 kilometers are managed by NHAI. Apart from this, NHAI collect tolls on these highways as per National Highway Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008.
According to MoRTH, at present toll is collected for approximately 45,000 kilometers of National Highways and Expressways through 1200 toll plazas maintained by NHAI or Concessionaires.