In order to bring down waiting time of motorists at five toll booths that provide entry into and exit from city, cashless ETC tag lanes were introduced over five years ago but the same seems to remain underutilised. More number of motorists should be motivated towards using the same, says a study report prepared by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).
ETC tag is a facility wherein a tag is installed on a vehicle and the same tag is detected at the toll booth with the help of censors. The amount is deducted automatically from the prepaid account for which one recharges on a regular basis. This saves time of motorists and prevents traffic jams at toll booths.
The study report prepared by the MSRDC also highlights that the number of toll booth lanes are not sufficient, and requires augmentation. According to MSRDC data, around 22,000 vehicles pass via five toll booths in city on an average, in a period of 60 minutes daily.
The five toll nakas in the city are located at Dahisar, Mulund (LBS Marg), Mulund (Eastern Express Highway), Vashi and Airoli. These points act as the five entry and exit points to the city.
An MSRDC official said, “We have got the report prepared via third party that suggested motivating motorists towards cashless transactions through ETC tags at toll booths. While currently around 20 per cent of the total traffic uses cashless options to pay toll, we definitely have to do something to augment toll collection lanes to ensure smooth functioning of traffic.”
The MSRDC official added, “The report prepared by a third party has also noted that lanes are insufficient, and hence we are also working on options like augmenting the number of lanes by having additional land acquired or having double decker toll nakas.”
The MSRDC said that it is also carrying out study via third party on how to implement the yellow line rules wherein toll operators have to mark yellow lines few metres away from toll collection spot the toll booth, and in case the traffic goes beyond that yellow lines, the toll operator should allow vehicles to pass without paying tolls to mitigate traffic snarls