Should India Abolish Toll Gates and checkpoints in favour of vignettes?

discoverwild · 30th December 2016, 20:22

A last week drive to Bangalore from Coimbatore entitled me to a wait of 5-15 mins per toll booth ending up spending over an hour for tolls alone, not to forget another hour and a half lost in Bangalore traffic.

Three days ago, the guy in front of me tried to pay by card in the outskirts of Coimbatore and the network failed intermittently, resulting in a 20 min wait at the toll, while I had to travel only another 20 minutes to my destination. I got delayed for my meeting, resulting in a 2 hour wait to get my next slot!

Mad Max · 30th December 2016, 21:56

Travelled today from Nagercoil back to Bangalore. The drive down to Nagercoil was quite pleasant except for Dharmapuri toll which was absolutely crazy.

The drive back was painful, to say the least. Heavy holiday traffic combined with Fastag not working and people not having change / money and trying to use cards resulted in a cluster *bleep*.

Had my kid with me and he got so tired - usual travel time is about 8 hours but this time it took close to 10. Not fun at all.

For those who are talking about tolls as a necessity, I have a bit of a different POV. I simply do not agree with toll at all in the first place unless the government provides a clear view into the expenditure of Road Tax and the implementation process of the quality standards. They already take money from us in various taxes and then on top of that, take toll. This simply pushes the agenda for private contractors / politicians nexus.

The Fastag system is miserable to say the least. The guy in front of me couldn't get his Fastag scanned. They got two handheld scanners to see if that could scan. No go. Then they asked for money. I even offered to pay the 40Rs for him (who knows if he was really in trouble). He finally pulled out some cash and by that time, we had a line of cars behind me.

Totally frustrated with this drive. Sorry for the rant. But instead of standing for citizen conveniences, these type of crazy laws and complete mismanagement is collapsing the system. And it's just getting worse.

One good thing - the road between Krishnagiri and until Karur is just amazing. Perfectly banked, excellent tarmac and well marked. Enjoyed that section the best.

30th December 2016, 20:22	#106
discoverwild Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2009 Location: BLR/CBE Posts: 1,305 Thanked: 3,695 Times	Re: Should India Abolish Toll Gates and checkpoints in favour of vignettes? A last week drive to Bangalore from Coimbatore entitled me to a wait of 5-15 mins per toll booth ending up spending over an hour for tolls alone, not to forget another hour and a half lost in Bangalore traffic. Three days ago, the guy in front of me tried to pay by card in the outskirts of Coimbatore and the network failed intermittently, resulting in a 20 min wait at the toll, while I had to travel only another 20 minutes to my destination. I got delayed for my meeting, resulting in a 2 hour wait to get my next slot!
	() Thanks

30th December 2016, 21:56	#107
Mad Max BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 966 Thanked: 1,580 Times	Re: Should India Abolish Toll Gates and checkpoints in favour of vignettes? Travelled today from Nagercoil back to Bangalore. The drive down to Nagercoil was quite pleasant except for Dharmapuri toll which was absolutely crazy. The drive back was painful, to say the least. Heavy holiday traffic combined with Fastag not working and people not having change / money and trying to use cards resulted in a cluster bleep. Had my kid with me and he got so tired - usual travel time is about 8 hours but this time it took close to 10. Not fun at all. For those who are talking about tolls as a necessity, I have a bit of a different POV. I simply do not agree with toll at all in the first place unless the government provides a clear view into the expenditure of Road Tax and the implementation process of the quality standards. They already take money from us in various taxes and then on top of that, take toll. This simply pushes the agenda for private contractors / politicians nexus. The Fastag system is miserable to say the least. The guy in front of me couldn't get his Fastag scanned. They got two handheld scanners to see if that could scan. No go. Then they asked for money. I even offered to pay the 40Rs for him (who knows if he was really in trouble). He finally pulled out some cash and by that time, we had a line of cars behind me. Totally frustrated with this drive. Sorry for the rant. But instead of standing for citizen conveniences, these type of crazy laws and complete mismanagement is collapsing the system. And it's just getting worse. One good thing - the road between Krishnagiri and until Karur is just amazing. Perfectly banked, excellent tarmac and well marked. Enjoyed that section the best.
	(1) Thanks