The first national highway stretch with barrier-less tolling was launched by Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in Gujarat on Friday.
The first Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) barrier-less tolling system is at the Chorayasi Toll Plaza on the Surat–Bharuch section of NH-48 in Gujarat.
The state-of-the-art system enables seamless toll collection without requiring vehicles to stop, using advanced technologies such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and FASTag, a statement by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said.
It allows vehicles to pass through tolling points at highway speeds without having to slow down, stop, or navigate into specific lanes. This reduces congestion at toll plazas reducing travel time and fuel consumption,
The government has already run pilots of the system at other locations too and issued tenders for 16 toll plazas. The government wants to complete the roll out of barrierless tolling nationwide by end of this year, Gadkari had said recently
Unlike traditional toll plazas with physical barriers or even dedicated fast lanes, MLFF uses overhead gantries equipped with sensors and cameras to charge commuters automatically.
Other than MLFF, India is also working on the use of Global Navigation Satellite System Technologies for barrierless tolling. GNSS technology tracks a vehicle’s precise route, allowing for accurate, distance-based tolling.