[ghodlur]

The Mulund Toll on the eastern express highway is a classic case of mismanagement of the Toll authorities who are responsible for the chaos happening on daily basis. There are 4 lanes for paying the toll and one lane specifically dedicated for monthly pass holders. Inadverently the Monthly passholder lane is being used by vehicles who want to pay the toll delaying the vehicles who have the monthly pass. This is also facilitated by the Toll authorities who accept the money even though they are aware of lane to be used by pass holders only. This causes a long build up of the vehicles esp in the evenings and 80% of them are non monthly pass holders. And there are some morons who shuffle their pockets for cash after reaching the toll window and haggle with the toll guys for the change. I have complained on numerous occassions to MMRDA office about this but has gone to deaf ears. Nowadays I even find small tempos, Tata Ace's also going through the monthly passholder lane. This irritates me a lot coz I pay for the monthly toll pass just to avoid the cash at last moment scenario and would like to have the privilage of passing the toll by showing my pass. Why should I not object to the lane being used by Bikes, Rickshaws, Taxis who do not pay the toll also. Why are these people exempted from paying toll but also allowed to take the privilages.
Any BHPinas experienced this? I Have seen the same case on the Airoli bridge toll and I guess this has become a norm at Tolls. Is this different in other cities.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

And there are some morons who shuffle their pockets for cash after reaching the toll window and haggle with the toll guys for the change.

During my recent visit to Maharashtra, I found that the details of toll payable for various categories of vehicles were not prominently displayed well ahead of the toll plaza. Often, a small notice used to be pasted on the toll counter walls, that too, torn at important places, perhaps deliberately. The toll counter staff often do not give back change, instead offer chocolates! But, I was prepared for these bandits, by taking a good collection of coins of various denominations from Bangalore!

Of course, I never used the exclusive lane meant for pass-holders.

[phamilyman]

ah, and I used to think only Delhi walas are badmash - alas Mumbaikars are no better. We have the same mess in the tag lanes where half the people instead want to pay cash.

When will basic rules get implemented in India?

[drifter]

It's not only the Mulund toll, it's rampant. People cutting in lines. Infact, the lanes should have proper dividers that extend a decent distance from the toll, so that proper physical lanes are created and people are less likely to cut across and create jams. This is a big problem at the Vashi toll towards Bombay especially in the evenings.

Drifter

[hvkumar]

I use the EEH toll gate daily. It is sometimes worse than what is described. In some lanes, there is also rampant lane-cutting. I have been chased many times because the toll attendant was busy scratching his insides or chit-chatting. There is no practice of clearly displaying toll rates, so I don't blame newcomers for stopping a little longer to get out cash. The toll rates are not indexed to COLA like other places and rate rises are arbitrary. The mandatory smart card reader opening gates are history and if you do a PIL/RTI, you will unearth several conditions that the toll contractor IRB has not complied with. IRB is surely the worst toll contractor in the country, if you think EEH is bad, you should see the one on NH8 at Vasai-Virar - there are Qs sometimes for half hour! Don't waste your time complaining to MMRDAs, they are all in it together. If you want to shake them up, do a simple RTI and see what the toll contractor was supposed to do, and what you really get. For the level of traffic at EEH and toll fee collections, there should be at least 2 more toll gates each way. And auto door openers will deter non-monthly pass holders. Or better still, higher toll fees for those who travel on monthly pass lanes.

[pawan_pullarwar]

This problem is everywhere on Indian toll. There are 4-5 tolls near pune where everytime you will find long queue of vehicles. Actually for each lane there has to be atleast 2-3 toll booth. Its really annoying where you pay for the good road and at the end you stuck in queue. Once I had a good fight at the toll booth after waiting in the queue for 30 mins. But the biggest problem with us is, not even 1 percent of the public will say anything, and people at the booth think why to worry for just .5 person who are having problem.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar

Once I had a good fight at the toll booth after waiting in the queue for 30 mins. But the biggest problem with us is, not even 1 percent of the public will say anything, and people at the booth think why to worry for just .5 person who are having problem.

Absolutely, the toll guys think they own the place and act as per their own whims and fancies. On many occassion even I have got down and wanted to talk to the officials but find no one but a bunch of teenagers handling the toll booths. They counter argue that vehicles should follow the discipline of not entering the monthly pass lane rather than them keeping a tab on such vehicles. Even I was told that only educated people have the these problems. What the hell? Now being educated is also a bane in this country.

[honeybee]

It's an absolute mess at almost all the toll booths I have encountered. Even on the expressway you can see heavy vehicles hogging whichever lanes are available, leading to a long queue of cars behind them, which again leads to cars changing lanes suddenly to make use of gaps created between the heavy vehicles. I have raised this issue with people at the toll booth on a couple of occasions, but you can't do much at that place. The right approach would be to file a case in a court asking the toll collecting companies to either adhere to the lane discipline strictly or refuse to pay toll till they sort out this mess.

[bbkp]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Why should I not object to the lane being used by Bikes, Rickshaws, Taxis who do not pay the toll also. Why are these people exempted from paying toll but also allowed to take the privilages.
Any BHPinas experienced this? I Have seen the same case on the Airoli bridge toll and I guess this has become a norm at Tolls. Is this different in other cities.

Firstly, Bikes and Autos don't have a toll and most Taxis are equivalent to any other car for that matter.

As you have said that you encounter a lot of people who choke up the monthly toll lane, let me also make it clear that I experience a different problem - that is a lot of people who pay monthly tolls enter the truck lanes, and the lanes meant for non-monthly pass vehicles.

Let us not discriminate and differentiate over here - that's not fair according to me - if someone lacks civic sense - It can be anyone - a monthly pass holder or otherwise - Holding a monthly pass doesn't have anything to do with it.

IMHO, not just the Mulund checknaka every checknaka is being mismanaged in it's current day. It is high time that we should make Electronic Tags mandatory - a simple beep as you cross the tollnaka would ensure that the toll is deducted and one can top up depending on the trips made.

The best approach is to complete abolish the toll structure itself. Better roads in Mumbai and using these roads will be the answer that anyone will get if the question was - why should I pay toll? In that case, imagine two people staying 100 meters apart - each on either side of the tollnaka - It is not genuine to consider both as different.

IMHO, we should abolish the Toll system and maybe add it as a tax to the fuel - the more you drive, the more you pay - the meaner you drive, the lesser you drive, the lesser you pay - I think this is the ideal way of getting it done.

Cheers

[ThE_DoN]

Originally Posted by bbkp

Firstly, Bikes and Autos don't have a toll and most Taxis are equivalent to any other car for that matter.

IMHO, we should abolish the Toll system and maybe add it as a tax to the fuel - the more you drive, the more you pay - the meaner you drive, the lesser you drive, the lesser you pay - I think this is the ideal way of getting it done.

Cheers

This would be against their rules of not charging two wheelers such taxes. Also, what if some driver uses his extensively but doesn't leave the city !!

[MX6]

Originally Posted by ThE_DoN

This would be against their rules of not charging two wheelers such taxes. Also, what if some driver uses his extensively but doesn't leave the city !!

That's precisely what I wonder all along. Why pay toll only for leaving the city or entering it? So a driver who extensively uses his car inside mumbai doesn't pay toll at all. Isn't the toll levied for development of roads around there and not just the stretch in the toll naka?
I tend to agree with bbkp here. Charge everyone so that the fund goes in to development of all roads.
Doesn't make any sense when a guy staying 50 mts before the toll naka doesn't have to pay anything compared to teh guy staying 50 mts on the other side.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by bbkp

As you have said that you encounter a lot of people who choke up the monthly toll lane, let me also make it clear that I experience a different problem - that is a lot of people who pay monthly tolls enter the truck lanes, and the lanes meant for non-monthly pass vehicles.

I don't quite understand this: There's a lane reserved for the pass holders where, under normal conditions only the pass holders are allowed to go through, each vehicle taking approximately two to three seconds to swipe the card and move ahead. And in the other lanes, if it's a car, it takes about fifteen seconds to hand over money, get the receipt and change back and then move ahead, further ten seconds if you don't have the cash ready. In the heavy vehicles it might take upto a minute.

Considering this scenario, why would a pass holder jump lanes and queue up in another lane if his own lane was progressing much faster?

If the pass holders' lane was restricted to only pass holders, I doubt if any pass holder would want to waste his time/fuel by lining up in another lane.

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.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by MX6

That's precisely what I wonder all along. Why pay toll only for leaving the city or entering it? So a driver who extensively uses his car inside mumbai doesn't pay toll at all. Isn't the toll levied for development of roads around there and not just the stretch in the toll naka?
.

I was under the impression that the toll is collected to recover the cost of the development of the roads. Its been ages since the Mulund toll is functional and I think the cost for EE higway must have been recovered and still the toll continues. Over the years instead of reducing the toll, the rates are hiked at regular intervals. And who is the normal victim, poor hapless commuters.
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?

[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.

[bbkp]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

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.

I don't think it is just Mumbai - You have this issue rampant everywhere around Mumbai - think of someone from Kalyan coming to Mumbai. He has to pay the first toll of 15 rupees on the tollgate on the road to NH3. Then, he has to pay 25 rupees on the NH3 before Thane. Then 30 rupees more at Mulund - It adds up to 70 rupees for a 70 km drive - one rupee a km for the kind of roads that are there. Really expensive.