Here is a suggestion for Mr.Kheny on toll collection on the BMIC Peripheral Road. His current method can be improved quite a bit to ensure that the main expressway has free moving traffic (this is an access controlled Expressway and ought to be signal free).
a. Toll booths should not be on the main expressway. They ought to be only on the slip roads from entries/to exits. Having toll booths on the main expressway slows down through traffic needlessly and increases the number of transactions,
b. There are a limited number of entry points on this road, it being access controlled to a large extent. Let's say I enter this road at Kanakapura Road and want to head to Peenya. I stop at a toll booth on the slip road and collect a token that just states the point of entry. It can be a reusable one or a print out.
c. I keep driving unhindered till I want to exit. On the exit ramp, I show this token and the person charges me toll.
d. Rationalize tolls to be in multiples of rs.5 (Ideal is Rs.10). So E-City to BG Road - Rs.15/BG Road to KPura Road Rs.15., etc etc. This reduces transaction times (chilre illa saar - ondu rupayi idiya?)
So someone entering at Peenya and wants to exit at E-City does not keep getting stopped along the way to check toll receipts, etc.
Srivathsa
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Ticket system
The use of the token/slip is in use by toll road agencies in rural areas with few exits (termed the ticket system). However there's always the problem with the driver who claims to have lost/misplaced his ticket. Not that this does not happen outside India, but that's bound to be what someone will say (maybe NICE) against the ticket system.
Rationalizing tolls is an excellent thought but there has to be some way to decide which tolls can be rationalized upwards and which ones go downward so that NICE manages the expected return on investment and does not end up making a more than handsome return on investment :)
transmogrifier
TM
Lost tickets/tokens
TM,
Lose your ticket, you pay maximum toll regardless of where you entered from. If you have been to Forum in Bangalore this is the principle that they adopt if you lose your parking ticket. Make it clear on the toll tag.
Yes - we will need some principles to decide on the toll rationalization. Before the toll was revised downward here is a sample of the toll (from Tumkur Road to Mysore Road)
"The toll for Mysore Road-Tumkur Road stretch is the highest. On this stretch, two-wheelers will have to pay Rs. 18, the multi-axle vehicles (MAV) will have to pay Rs. 84 per axle, light commercial vehicles (LCV) Rs. 46; trucks Rs. 77; buses Rs. 119 and cars Rs. 44."
I would make it Rs.15, 90, 50 , 80.120,50. I don't have numbers after revision. If I am not wrong it was revised down by about 30%. Then the new rates would be 10, 60, 40, 50, 100,40. Based on expected number of vehicles of each type an Excel sheet can help solve this :)
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Thinking ahead
Srivatsa,
Definately we need to have round figuresfor tolls - otherwise this whole tender exact change business would be time consuming.
W.r.t tickets can we not do away with them. We use a simple scanner that record the number plate on entry. While exiting it does the same, and maybe displays your toll on a board ahead which you then pay. So no cheating/loosin tickets takes place.
Having pre-paid options too is a good idea. But we would need a different lane for those who have already pre-paid thier toll. But knowing out civic sense, that lane will also not be respected and anyone and everyone would land up there.
Narayan Gopalan
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
Further thoughts on toll rationalization
I read up a bit on Florida's turnpike and their rationalization seemed so logical; $2.5 per axle. Of course this would not make complete sense in India where most buses and trucks also have 2 axles...but what I'm trying to get at is the pattern of rationalization.
FYI, Florida's turnpike is on the average about 7.5 cents per mile for two axle vehicles (http://en.wikipedia.org/w...). Converted that's about to 1.13 Rs/km/axle. That's a lot more than the NICE's revised rates for cars (which have 2 axles) but is lower for buses (if you assume that our buses have 3 axles). Shouldn't that be the our rationale for tolls? Charge the cars more while reducing the cost for buses!
Also, Florida's Turnpike charges 2W the same as a car (see pic below)...try passing that rule in India ;)
transmogrifier
TM