Soon, travellers will pay only for the stretch they use, not the entire highway toll: Road secretary

Road transport and highways secretary Yudhvir Singh Malik said the government is working on the distance-based electronic tolling, which will let travellers pay only for the stretch they use instead of the highway.

Travellers may soon have to pay only for the stretch of national highway they use instead of a regular toll fee based on the new transport management system said road transport and highways secretary Yudhvir Singh Malik Thursday.

Pune, India - Aug. 9, 2017: The highway police banned heavy vehicles on the expressway in Pune, India, on Wednesday, August 9, 2017. (HT PHOTO) (Representational Photo)

“Instead of keeping a close toll policy, let us get in place an opening tolling policy through intelligent transport management system so that you the pay the toll only for the stretch of the road that you use,” Malik said.

“We are soon coming out with the policy and within a year or so we should be able to put that in place,” he said at an event organised by industry chamber PHDCCI in New Delhi.

Many countries such as US, Australia have been doing trials on the distance-based electronic tolling.

Malik also said a roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferry has been planned for Surat “to other side of Gujarat”, which will save about 600-700 km, he said.

Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said the bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai covering the 508-km stretch in under three hours would be completed by 2022.

“We are also looking at a number of other high speed rail corridors. Ahmedabad-Mumbai is just a beginning,” Lohani said without giving further details.

He also emphasised on the need to increase the speed of both passenger and freight trains.