[ruzbehxyz]

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation(MSRDC) on a pilot project basis has installed FASTag readers on Bandra Worli Sealink(BWSL), which can read vehicles from a distance.

In this advance FASTag reading technology, three vehicles can be scanned at a time. The official explained, "Under this advance system, if successful and once implemented the movement of vehicles at all toll plazas will become more faster as compared to the existing time. As after every vehicle the need of lifting boom barriers for scanning of FASTag will be eliminated."

The pilot project implementation was proposed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, government of India. M/s Kent Intelligence transportation system India Pvt Ltd is taking care of the new system along with testing and commissioning of the implemented system, integration of sensors with the existing toll management system among others. For which necessary permissions have been given by the MSRDC as Bandra Worli Sealink is under their control.

According to the official, the additional FASTag readers which can read vehicles from a distance are placed at the top of the FASTag enabled lane. So if a vehicle enters the said lane it can read the FASTag and toll amount will be deducted accordingly.

Reportedly, the MSRDC converted Bandra Worli Sealink toll plaza into complete FASTag except two lanes reserved for hybrid payments on both sides. Following the introduction of FASTag enabled lanes, the movement of vehicles has become quick, further preventing long queue at the said toll plaza. MSRDC is also working on converting other City toll plazas into complete FASTag however due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation the work has been delayed, the official stated.

Source: https://www.freepressjournal.in/mumb...i-sealink-toll

[gkveda]

Idea is good if all vehicles have enough balance in the account and all sensors work flawlessly. If, say, out of 3 vehicles being scanned simultaneously, if middle vehicle doesn't have enough balance, or the sensor does not read the fastag, then it will create queue buildup.

I am afraid of another point. In a toll, If car goes through 3 sensors one after another, there should not be triple deduction of amount for passing through one toll. This can be easily prevented through software. But, what I am afraid is, if it happens by mistake, there is all chance that next toll will have queue buildup due to insufficient balance.

Last case scenario: There is no queue of cars. A single car goes through 3 sensors scan. Now, imagine if one sensor does not read. Gate doesn't open assuming that car doesn't have fastag.

So, if all such scenarios are taken care, then it works quicker

[ParthVyas777]

Idea makes sense but I don't think the regular fasttag readers are what cause traffic buildups anyways. A bigger issue is people who don't have fastag or sufficient balance, going through the fasttag lane and then arguing with the poor operator at the booth when asked to pay twice the toll (sometimes these arguements last for 3-5 mins!). This needs to be fixed first. If everybody who has a valid fastag and sufficient balance drives through the lane, the traffic flows smoothly with no need to come to a standstill either even with the current systems in place.

[Crow]

I was recently one of these people who argue with the toll booth operator at the sea link, because I had ₹2000 balance in my Fastag but the reader wasn’t allowing me to cross the barrier somehow. I showed them the balance and said it’s a Fastag error. They argued for a couple mins and then allowed me to go.

Funnily enough on after return journey I checked the deduction and they’d cut money for both journeys. This probably means that my Fastag was read on the first attempt too, but the barrier probably closed before my car reached the toll gate. Or my sensor was scanned to pay for the toll of the car ahead of mine.

Either way, the buildup of cars isn’t always due to people with insufficient balance. With a perfectly working Fastag and sufficient balance, some of us end up stuck.


I hope the new technology is able to avoid errors like the one I faced.

[PPS]

I think this has been there for a few months. Sometime ago a vehicle owner ahead of me was haggling with the attendant due to blacklisted tag, in the meanwhile the reader/sensor read my tag while that vehicle was still ahead & the barrier opened. After that vehicle went, the barrier closed & my tag was read again!