[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

Regarding Vashi: It is good to have Fastag. But anyway, the people at the booth are so fast, the Fastag will hardly make difference. This is one booth I always admire. They see the note in your hand from a distance and keep the change ready. Also the sets of change to be returned against payment of Rs. 50, 100, 200, 500 are always ready with them. Very efficient operation.

Totally agree with you and this is what I have noticed at most of the toll booths in around Mumbai while crossing the city towards Gujarat. Due to this, I also ensure to take that bill out and make it visible from a distance so the person standing out notices this, yells at the operator to get the toll receipt and then change(or not) and hand it over to me. Vashi, Airoli, Ghodbunder included. As a driver you will realise that you were crawling while entering the booth, still crawling when you are paying and collecting the receipt and crawl out soon after. There is hardly a second or two that you are actually stationary.

One example I keep giving the many of my friends on how manual toll collection also can be handled extremely efficiently!!

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

One example I keep giving the many of my friends on how manual toll collection also can be handled extremely efficiently!!

Yes, I too give the example of this to my friends and family. And too other poorly managed toll plazas.

At Ghodbunder, the cars need not pay the toll. I take the leftmost lane and pass through.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

At Ghodbunder, the cars need not pay the toll. I take the leftmost lane and pass through.

Was referring to the days when toll was levied to cars as well. However, for booths that usually have tolls exempted I go by the visible hints of height barrier and simply stick to this lane and notice if other cars are paying at all or not.

Having said that, the Mumbai Pune expressway toll booths weren't bad at all to be honest. However, with FASTag now becoming mandatory for all the vehicles, we need to see what difference will it make especially when we will still have quite a few cases where the tag will not be recognized or blacklisted or any other reason for that matter.

[PGNarain]

Any BHPians have traveled to or from Pune the last few days? We need to travel to Pune in the coming week from now and has posted a query on the Twitter handle of Navi Mumbai Police who responded promptly that non-essential travel will not be allowed.

Are there any checks in between and how and where will cops establish if travel is essential or non-essential?

[ruzbehxyz]

Mumbai-Pune Expressway: 52% reduction in fatal accidents since 2016.

The number of fatalities on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway has seen an overall reduction by 52% since 2016, when the ‘Zero-Fatality Corridor” project, a joint initiative of the MSRDC, Maharashtra Highway Police, Mahindra & Mahindra, and SaveLIFE Foundation was launched to reduce road fatalities.

Though the figure demonstrates a 56% reduction in fatalities from the baseline of 2016, the project has taken the Covid-19-related impact into account and has marked a 52% reduction instead, taking the statistical averages from the first and last quarter of 2020, when there was relatively normal traffic movement on the expressway. In the first and last quarter of 2020, the expressway witnessed a total of 36 fatalities. Statistically extrapolating this to the entire year gives a figure of 72, which has been used to report the relatively conservative impact.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/citie...924226895.html

[AkMar]

I drove on the expressway from Kalamboli to Shedung exit last month. The surface quality is disappointing to say the least. I hope someone is working on measures to improve it

[RedTerrano]

Originally Posted by AkMar

I drove on the expressway from Kalamboli to Shedung exit last month. The surface quality is disappointing to say the least. I hope someone is working on measures to improve it

Could you please elaborate on what you mean by disappointing? The Xpressway has cement instead of tarmac, and that is supposed to last much longer and much better. Essentially what it means is no potholes.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by RedTerrano

The Xpressway has cement instead of tarmac, and that is supposed to last much longer and much better. Essentially what it means is no potholes.

+1.

Originally Posted by AkMar

I drove on the expressway from Kalamboli to Shedung exit last month. The surface quality is disappointing to say the least. I hope someone is working on measures to improve it

As mentioned above, cement is used for the expressway, which is much better than normal tarmac. Being the first expressway of India, it was opened sometime in 2001-02 and since then I have driven on it countless number of times. For many many years there were very minimal pot holes and the road was 99% good. Off late in the last few years some pot holes have surfaced especially in the ghat areas and around sharp turns. Overall I can say that the expressway is still very good and very well built. And when comparing it to Mumbai roads, you know where it stands.

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by AkMar

I drove on the expressway from Kalamboli to Shedung exit last month. The surface quality is disappointing to say the least. I hope someone is working on measures to improve it

I agree and will try to explain.

With age, the concrete surface has lost all the smoothness and feels like you are driving on a very very rough polish paper. Add to that the segment joints for cement sections. Its a disaster for the tyres!

Not all sections are bad though, the ones which are subject to high load vehicles are mode impacted.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Mumbai-Pune Expressway: 52% reduction in fatal accidents since 2016.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/citie...924226895.html

Good to know, thanks for sharing

Few noteworthy points from the article:-
* So far, 3,000 engineering-related suggestions have been implemented by MSRDC
* The challenge as seen in recent crashes on the stretch is the behaviour of truck drivers to drive down slopes on neutral gear, leading to heating of brakes and loss of control
* Over-speeding on the expressway, especially by buses, is another area

[IamNikhil]

More than 3 lakh vehicles have been challaned and fines collected amounting to almost 30 crore on Mumbai-Pune Expressway!

https://m.timesofindia.com/city/pune...w/84740012.cms

[raksrules]

Want an advice from folks here who drive frequently on Mumbai Pune Expressway. I am a new driver and have only driven locally in Mumbai. I have a Grand i10 Nios. I and my family are planning a day trip to Lonavala and will be using Expressway. What are the tips can someone give me to stay safe while travelling.

Some things I know are that I have to drive under 80 Kmph and I absolutely don't mind gong slower than others. Also I have to make sure I follow any vehicle closely and never come under a situation where I am sandwiched between 2 large vehicles (trucks, buses) be it side by side or front and back.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Want an advice from folks here who drive frequently on Mumbai Pune Expressway. I am a new driver and have only driven locally in Mumbai. I have a Grand i10 Nios. I and my family are planning a day trip to Lonavala and will be using Expressway. What are the tips can someone give me to stay safe while travelling.

Some things I know are that I have to drive under 80 Kmph and I absolutely don't mind gong slower than others. Also I have to make sure I follow any vehicle closely and never come under a situation where I am sandwiched between 2 large vehicles (trucks, buses) be it side by side or front and back.

Besides the ones you mentioned, I'd add:

Stick to the middle lane as far as possible.

Turn on headlights in tunnels (do NOT use hazard lights (blinkers))

Use turn indicators when switching lanes, even if there's no one behind you for 10000 miles. Just do it.

Do NOT cut in front of other vehicles suddenly (when changing lanes, for eg). Leave a sufficient gap. About 50 meters gap at 80 kmph, even greater gap at higher speeds.

Switch lanes gently. Don't do sudden steering turns at high speeds, you could spin out of control.

Do not use high beam unless foggy.

Do not dwell in others "blind spot" for long. If someone else in an adjacent lane comes up such that you end up in his blind spot, then either slow down or speed up so as to get out of the blind spot (Google up what "blind spot" means, if you don't know)

[raksrules]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Besides the ones you mentioned, I'd add:

Thanks a lot. I will keep all this in mind. I do have extensive experience of driving on expressways at 120 Kmph but that was in US where people at least respect others and yield to them and provide them empty lane to merge and all. While in India, if I give an indicator to change lane, the car in that lane behind me will makes sure they accelerate to go past me rather than yielding to me.

[diablo29]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Want an advice from folks here who drive frequently on Mumbai Pune Expressway. I am a new driver and have only driven locally in Mumbai. I have a Grand i10 Nios. I and my family are planning a day trip to Lonavala and will be using Expressway. What are the tips can someone give me to stay safe while travelling.

Some things I know are that I have to drive under 80 Kmph and I absolutely don't mind gong slower than others. Also I have to make sure I follow any vehicle closely and never come under a situation where I am sandwiched between 2 large vehicles (trucks, buses) be it side by side or front and back.

If I can add few more points :

1. The usage of extreme left lane. Please avoid it as far as possible and especially whilst climbing up the ghat towards Lonavala.

2. Please follow the various speed limits including those prior to sharp turns , some of them are very logical although they appear all of a sudden from 80/100 to 30.

3. Try to let the speed savvy or rash drivers go ahead and maintain safe distance from them, applies to those with dark window films and number plates in non English languages.

4. And last but not the least please don’t stop on the expressway to click photos etc, stop only at the food malls / petrol pumps.