GPS Based Toll Collection System: Gadkari said, “The government is considering introducing new technologies including GPS-based toll system to transform the toll plaza system in the country. We will start it by March next year
Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the government will introduce new technologies, including satellite-based toll collection system, by March next year to replace the existing system of highway toll plazas. The move aims to reduce traffic on the highways and charge drivers for the exact distance traveled on the highways.
Gadkari said, “The government is considering introducing new technologies, including GPS-based toll system, to transform the toll plaza system in the country. We will start new GPS satellite-based toll collection across the country by March next year.
Gadkari said the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has also run two pilot projects of Automatic Number Plate Recognition System to enable automatic toll collection without stopping the vehicles. During the year 2018-19, vehicles had to wait for an average of eight minutes at the toll plaza. With the implementation of Fastag system in the year 2020-21 and 2021-22, this time has reduced to just 47 seconds.
The Union Minister said that at some places, especially in densely populated towns near cities, the waiting time at toll plazas has improved significantly, yet this time increases during peak rush hours.
Meanwhile, Gadkari said the government will implement road projects worth Rs 1.5-2 lakh crore on the ‘build-operate-handover’ (BOT) model for highway projects of less than 1,000 km length before the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect for the general elections. Will invite bids. General elections are likely to be held in April-May 2024.
Data from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways shows that till November last year, agencies under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had completed expansion or construction of 5,248 km of NH, compared to 4,766 km in the same period a year ago. . However, with only four months left in the current financial year, the government’s target of construction and expansion of 12,000 km looks difficult to be achieved.
