[bbkp]

Originally Posted by honeybee

The problem arises because the pass holders' lane is fast moving. So fast that others are tempted to use it to reduce their own waiting times. And once people start jumping lanes, it soon develops into a chaos. Also the toll workers have no way to check beforehand if a car has a monthly pass or not. So at least in case of cars, they are not in a position to prevent this from happening. And once the defaulting car is at the toll booth, there's pretty much nothing to do except collect the money and issue the receipt. Maybe an errant driver should be forced to pull up, take a U-turn and then rejoin another lane.

For bikers and three wheelers, there's a separate lane to go through so they won't obstruct the other traffic. I have seen, specially at the Mumbra toll booth on the Thane - Bhiwandi bypass road, bikers entering the lanes meant for cars and other vehicles. But in general, I have rarely seen a biker following any traffic rules including lanes, overtaking or signals, so I am not surprised.

It develops into a chaos because of the rate at which the toll naka can process the vehicles is slower than the rate at which the vehicles keep coming. Seen pass holders entering vacant lanes of non-passholders and vice versa even during lean hours.

The point I am trying to make is this is driven more by the civic sense rather than the question of whether you are a passholder or not. If one has an abundance of civic sense, he / she will stick to their lanes. A lack of civic sense is what causes the chaos. I cannot agree with the suggestion that the toll gate operators should not allow non-pass holders through the pass holders lane and / or vice versa.

Another great thing about the Mulund checknaka off late is the interesting barriers that Police has put up when you are heading towards Mumbai - It kind of adds fuel to the existing fire !!

Talking of bikers - they are exposed to elements and are driving a bike involves far greater risk than driving a car - IMHO, we should let them be what they are - As such they have too much to handle. Unless someone is heading towards us and is sure to cause some unwanted damage - let us leave them at that.

[bbkp]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

The Mulund toll somewhat justifies the toll but what about the one on the LBS road before entering Thane. For what is this toll charged?

And interestingly enough there is a diversion on LBS just before the toll naka that takes you to thane without any toll - it adds up to about 2 kms of extra journey. Toll on LBS is not justified.

But then as I said, it is also a road and needs maintenance - rather tax on fuel than collecting toll like this.

Cheers

[MX6]

Originally Posted by bbkp

And interestingly enough there is a diversion on LBS just before the toll naka that takes you to thane without any toll - it adds up to about 2 kms of extra journey. Toll on LBS is not justified.

But then as I said, it is also a road and needs maintenance - rather tax on fuel than collecting toll like this.

Cheers

Does that diversion exist still? I noticed it first in 2001!

I drove the old Mum Pune highway 2 weekends back. I had to pay a toll of 75 bucks on the old road which merged with the e-way for a short distance only to branch out at khopoli exit. Then I had to pay a toll again to get over to panvel. I'd have paid 100 odd bucks on the old route when the e-way is 140 bucks. Beats all logic here as to why I have to pay toll on an old route which intially didn't have any toll.
Maharashtra toll folks are I guess fleecing people. Anyway, we have RTI activists bumped off in pune so I dare not rake any controversy.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by bbkp

The point I am trying to make is this is driven more by the civic sense rather than the question of whether you are a passholder or not. If one has an abundance of civic sense, he / she will stick to their lanes. A lack of civic sense is what causes the chaos. I cannot agree with the suggestion that the toll gate operators should not allow non-pass holders through the pass holders lane and / or vice versa.
Talking of bikers - they are exposed to elements and are driving a bike involves far greater risk than driving a car - IMHO, we should let them be what they are - .

You can maintain civic sense till your patience weans off. When you see that your efforts of standing in a queue to get a monthly pass, pay more than you actually use the EE highway and not allowed to pass the toll smoothly going down the drain because some moron thinks he has done a smart act by jumping lanes and entering the passholder's lane then definitely the civic sense goes for a toss. Add to this the toll guys dont seem to even bother to look at the monthly pass card for its validity. all they see is the colour of the sticker and if some wise guy kept a track of the colur he would know for which month the pass is valid.
Regarding the bikers, I have full regards to them but merely saying this and letting them off without paying the toll for the same roads is a sin. I mean nobody's from heavens so lets leave the special treatment aside and make the rules uniform for all those who use the roads for which the toll is collected.

Originally Posted by bbkp

And interestingly enough there is a diversion on LBS just before the toll naka that takes you to thane without any toll - it adds up to about 2 kms of extra journey. Toll on LBS is not justified.
But then as I said, it is also a road and needs maintenance - rather tax on fuel than collecting toll like this.
Cheers

I have not see this road, can someone elaborate with some landmarks. is this the same road which goes next to Mulund Bus stand towards Station.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I have not see this road, can someone elaborate with some landmarks. is this the same road which goes next to Mulund Bus stand towards Station.

Go towards mulund check naka on LBS. There used to be a small temple near the bus terminus on the left side. Not sure whether they've moved it now.
There's a road that is perpendicular to LBS besides the temple. Enter that, and go straight. Turn right at a distance and voila, you are in thane district.
This was in the year 2001. Not sure how those places are now.

[bbkp]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Regarding the bikers, I have full regards to them but merely saying this and letting them off without paying the toll for the same roads is a sin. I mean nobody's from heavens so lets leave the special treatment aside and make the rules uniform for all those who use the roads for which the toll is collected.

I have not see this road, can someone elaborate with some landmarks. is this the same road which goes next to Mulund Bus stand towards Station.

Well, there are times when the most ideal thing that one feels might not be the most practical one - at times it might not be the most popular one !! Imagine all these bikers changing over to cars - I hope you now got the reason why I say it is better to let go the bikers - it is them because of which the fuel consumption and pollution is kept on check and we owe them a lot. For doing that bit by placing a bigger risk onto themselves - I don't think they need to pay anything more than that - Again, this is strictly IMHO and opinions may differ.

The road I am talking about is the one from the junction before RMall when you come from bhandup to thane on LBS. At this junction, if you take a left turn and keep following the road straight, after about 1 km of driving and following the turns, voila, you are in Thane and no toll paid - you can subsequently proceed another 1 KM into Thane and you will see yourself near the passport office - I guess you know the way from there on (Road name - Bal Rajeshwar Marg)

Cheers,
K Prasad

[honeybee]

Collection of tolls of late has become a money-earning mechanism for infra companies. Just outside Dombivli, there are two toll booths, one when going to Shilphata, another when going to the Bhivandi bypass (beyond Kalyan). The quality of the roads is passable at best, though it has had less potholes in the last monsoon. The toll charges are Rs. 20 one way and Rs. 30 for a return pass. Not justified going by the bumps you encounter on the road.

Because of the flyovers constructed in Mumbai, the government decided to charge toll on vehicles entering and leaving Mumbai. All the entry points right from Vashi, Mankhurd, Airoli, Mulund, LBS Road to Dahisar have toll booths.

There are several flaws with the practice of BoT in infrastructure development. While I can understand tolls for something like the expressway which provides an alternative route, is built better, has a higher speed limit and promotes a smoother flow of traffic by banning two/three wheelers, tractors and bullock carts, I don't understand the rationale of charging toll on a road that's the only point of entry/exit into/out of a town. That's loot. The government already charges road tax when any vehicle is registered, and so it is the duty of the government to provide driveable roads. To have pothole free and level roads should become a right of the motorists, not a paid service.

Also I believe for any BoT project where a company is authorized to collect toll from motorists for use of the road, very strict guidelines regarding the quality of the road should be prescribed and followed by law. I have seen so many times on the road to the Airoli toll naka (from Rabale side) there are huge potholes in the monsoon season. These potholes are filled up after the monsoon is over. Why pay for these potholes as long as they exist? For that matter, any roads are fixed up only prior to monsoon. The monsoon as usual ruins them completely. You then have to wait for another four/five months before the government wakes up and decides to repair them. So along with the monsoon, you spend a good part of the year travelling on bad roads.

[iceman7]

Why residents of Thane need to pay toll to enter Mumbai is something I have never been able to understand. Agreed that there was a development cost to be recovered but that has been recovered (i am assuming) 2-3 times over now. Road maintenance then? Heck we pay a road tax when we buy cars, don't we?

Like many of you mentioned, the entire toll thing is a huge huge scam, with everyone in, out, against and around the government involved. It's a bloody cash cow for all. So, can we do anything about it? Fearfully and sadly NO. Call me a cynic, but the toll plazas have vested interests by too many to be shut down.

About the diversion to avoid toll to enter Mumbai

From the circle just before the Mulund toll naka (LBS marg), take a right. Continue straight and take a left from the Chevrolet showroom. Keep going straight, then a small right where the road ends, followed by a quick hair pin left. Keep going straight and Voila! you are in Mulund. If you take this road, you exit just after the R-Mall signal. It is a 2 km detour, takes roughly the same time (no signals on this road) and IMO cost effective.

You're Welcome.

[honeybee]

I guess filing RIT applications to find out how much money has been earned out of toll charges and the yearly maintenance costs for the flyovers? The tolls were started to recover the cost of constructing flyovers, not the regular roads. And when everything else fails, the government could always demolish a flyover and rebuild it for some reason or another!

I remember at the Khambataki Ghat (Pune - Satara route), the toll collection started soon after the ascent and descent of the ghat become one-way affairs. Last year (or year before that), the toll collection company closed shop, saying they had recovered the cost of the project and were now stopping the collection. Our own government decided to take over the toll collection. Finally the people forced the idea to be abandoned. This shows just how pathetically shameless the machinery has become.

[FlyingSpur]

This toll naka is one of the worst I've ever come acros. Everyone is so damn indisciplined, people shoot forward in the gaps between the queues !!

[viraj_s85]

Originally Posted by MX6

Go towards mulund check naka on LBS. There used to be a small temple near the bus terminus on the left side. Not sure whether they've moved it now.
There's a road that is perpendicular to LBS besides the temple. Enter that, and go straight. Turn right at a distance and voila, you are in thane district.
This was in the year 2001. Not sure how those places are now.

Rightly said there are two such lanes which you can use to come from Mulund to Thane without paying Toll

[unoczar]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

To go back in history (as I know it), the tolls were introduced to fund the cost of the flyovers built in 1995 during the Shiv Sena govt in Maharashtra. At that time, the Jog Committee suggested 2-3 ways of recovering the cost and the one they suggested as most appropriate was to levy a one-time fee of Rs 1000 (for cars) for all vehicles registered in Bombay and Thane (also covered New Bombay) RTOs. That would have been a fair and swift recovery of costs. However, the wisdom that won was the toll - obviosuly, that is perpetual source of cash and corruption for the babus, politicos and the goons who run these toll gates. That is how the toll gates came to stay. Can you imagine something more incongruous than this - motorists entering the city pay for all the flyovers inside the city, and those who live inside the city and use it daily do not pay anything for using it! Needless to say, by whatever stretch of imagination the approximate cost of Rs 1,500 crores spent on building the original flyovers must have been recovered several times over by now and the tolls continue - and keep increasing year by year. Not only is the principle of capital cost recovery out of the window, tolls continue to be levied for what reasons I am unable to fathom. Even assuming that the EEH and WEH have been widened and new flyovers constructed, that cannot justify a toll fee that has not been restructured in years. A PIL/RTI is required to get into this aspect. We are already paying taxes to BMS and the State Govt for repairing and maintaining roads, so why pay toll when the capital costs have been recovered? I am surprised the CAG does not comment, since in normal circumstances they comment on such issues in their reports. I am surprised this is ahppening ina city which boasts the richest municipal bod, the BMC, which has revenues larger than some State Governments. Contrast this with road infrastructure in Delhi which is much better and where no one pays a single paisa for using the roads, they are all funded out of general taxes collected by the Delhi Govt and the Central Govt. It is only in Bombay that we are apathetic to such extortion and no one seems to care about paying ever-increasing taxes and tolls.

Ah!

All these years i just FAILED to understand the logic behind these toll gates/plazas!!! But now, HVK has explained so nicely, its not a surprise that its that cancer again thats been running (ruining?) our country since time immemorial!

Hmmm... we should have a thread on how to avoid toll gates!

[hvkumar]

While traffic has increased nowadays at the Mulund EEH toll naka , one slight improvement is that - as in the Vashi toll naka and e-way toll naka - they open up an extra lane (in the other side) to speed up things. However, the number of toll booths has to be increased - say, keep a separate lane for trucks and buses just ahead of the present toll booths so that they are segregated and have an easy passageway through the gates ahead.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

While traffic has increased nowadays at the Mulund EEH toll naka , one slight improvement is that - as in the Vashi toll naka and e-way toll naka - they open up an extra lane (in the other side) to speed up things. However, the number of toll booths has to be increased - say, keep a separate lane for trucks and buses just ahead of the present toll booths so that they are segregated and have an easy passageway through the gates ahead.

Rightly said HVK since increasing lane on one side decreases the other side by one lane thereby increasing the traffic on one side.

IMO they should strictly follow the monthly pass lane which reduces the traffic congestion happening so frequently at Mulund Toll naka. Invariably there are some morons who either dont understand the emaning of the words "Monthly pass holder only" written in both English and Marathi or they take it for granted that they can move into any lanes.

My suggestions:
1) Put enough indications before the Mulund flyover and make it loud and clear about the lane structure.
2) Fine any non monthly pass holder passing through the dedicated lane.
3) Give enough power to the traffic police to tackle unrurly crowd.

[t18]

This happened to me at Katai Naka Toll towards mumbai, all these days they used to let the vehicles pass without paying toll (observed this after the shiv sainiks had ransacked the toll booth), but last week when I was passing by they halted me and asked for toll. Though they did not collect from others ahead of me. Later in the evening when I was returning they let me pass without stopping me for toll.
I dont understand this pattern of collecting Toll.