E-Paper
After Dwarka Expressway Gharaunda to get barrier-free electronic toll collection system
In its tender document on Tuesday, NHAI said that the bidder’s solution should be future-ready to integrate technologies such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and NHAI Applications such as Raj Marg Yatra, Advance Traffic Management System (ATMS), any other similar system at no extra cost.
A request for proposal (RfP) for setting up a barrier-free electronic toll collection system at Gharaunda Fee Plaza on the Delhi -Chandigarh stretch of NH-44 was floated by Indian Highways Management Company Limited, a public sector unit under the union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) on Tuesday. This comes after the Dwarka Expressway in the national capital region became the first highway stretch in the country chosen for this novel toll collection system, seen as an upgrade from the existing FASTag enabled automatic toll collection system.
In its tender document on Tuesday, NHAI said that the bidder’s solution should be future-ready to integrate technologies such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and NHAI Applications such as Raj Marg Yatra, Advance Traffic Management System (ATMS), any other similar system at no extra cost. The technical bids from the potential service providers will be opened on January 15, 2025, following which technical bids will be received from the shortlisted vendors.
It is to be noted that NHAI is expected to pilot virtual toll booths using satellite tolling technology such as GNSS shortly while this barrier-free system currently uses existing RFID-based FASTag.
During a reply in the Rajya Sabha on December 4, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said such systems will be implemented across the country. He had stated that it is expected that the cost of operation of these toll plazas will go down in the barrier-free system. He also stated that the FASTag system adoption based on radio frequency identification (RFID) reduced the average waiting time at toll fee plazas from 734 seconds to 47 seconds for the financial year 2022-23, according to a study done by a National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through a consultant.
Once the satellite system is ready, the NHAI will run a hybrid model through which users can opt between the two options until the GNSS system becomes mature.
