Gurgaon: Bijwasan toll plaza on Dwarka Expressway is set to shift to barrier-free multi-lane free flow (MLFF) tolling, allowing vehicles to pass through without stopping for payment.Of the 34 lanes at the plaza, 16, including two standby lanes, will be provisioned for MLFF, with ANPR cameras and FASTag used for vehicle identification and electronic toll collection, Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) officials said.At present, toll collection at the plaza is carried out through the existing fee-plaza arrangement, with FASTag being used for electronic payment. Although vehicles using FASTag do not have to make a cash payment, they still pass through designated toll lanes. The plaza has an estimated annual electronic toll collection of Rs 192.97 crore.Under the new system, ANPR cameras will capture a vehicle’s registration number while RFID equipment reads its FASTag as it passes through the MLFF zone. The two systems will identify the vehicle and its FASTag account, and the applicable user fee will be deducted electronically.The equipment will be installed across the highway lanes. Motorists will not have to stop at a booth, pass through a physical barrier or choose a dedicated lane. In effect, the toll booth is replaced by an electronic tolling zone. NHAI says the system is aimed at reducing waiting and congestion at toll locations, as well as the fuel consumption and emissions caused by vehicles stopping or queuing.At Bijwasan, the existing fee-plaza infrastructure will be used, and IHMCL will install the ANPR-RFID tolling equipment. Once MLFF is commissioned, the lanes not designated for tolling will be closed and physically secured, and the remaining infrastructure will be used for other highway amenities.“We have invited the request for proposal for the implementation of multi-lane free flow tolling system at three locations in Delhi-Gurgaon region. Efforts are being made to make it operationalised by early next year,” an official said.Bijwasan is one of three toll plazas in the Gurgaon-Delhi section being taken up for MLFF.The proposed Kukrola fee plaza on NH-48, on the Delhi-Jaipur section, is being developed as the new toll location to replace the existing Kherki Daula fee plaza. Its estimated annual electronic toll collection is around Rs 165.9 crore. Bijwasan and Kukrola will be treated as integrated fee plazas, with the user fee determined according to the applicable toll-fee notification. On a daily basis, 80,000-90,000 vehicles crosses both the plazas.Unlike Bijwasan, Kukrola will not rely on toll-plaza infrastructure. Gantries on the main carriageway, installed downstream of the fee-plaza location, will identify vehicles as they pass through.The third site, Janaula on the Gurgaon-Pataudi-Rewari section of NH-352W, will remain a standalone open-tolling fee plaza. It has an estimated annual ETC collection of around Rs 57.35 crore, and eight lanes are proposed to be provisioned for MLFF tolling.NHAI started collecting user fees at Bijwasan in Nov last year, after Dwarka Expressway became fully operational in Aug.The new system comes as NHAI expands MLFF across national highways. The country’s first MLFF system was launched at Chorayasi toll plaza on the Surat-Bharuch section of NH-48 in Gujarat in May this year, and around 41,500 vehicles crossed the tolling location on the first day.NHAI subsequently introduced MLFF at Daulatpura and Manoharpura on the Delhi-Jaipur section of NH-48 in Rajasthan. It also launched the system at Shahjahanpur, making the Manesar-Jaipur stretch barrier-free through the three MLFF plazas. In Haryana, MLFF has been rolled out at Gharaunda toll plaza on NH-44 on the Panipat-Jalandhar section. In Delhi-NCR, it has been implemented at Mundka toll plaza on UER-II.
