Ineffective FASTags in Bengaluru are leading to congestion.
There is huge congestion caused by the non-FASTag vehicles. The vehicles take more than 15 minutes to pass through the toll gates as the commuter still have not got their FASTags. “There is no use of FASTag lanes. There is still a lot of traffic at the toll gates. We keep waiting for more than 10 minutes. They charge heavy also for tolls”, said Mr. V Madhu, Commuter.
FASTag has become mandatory for all vehicles private and commercial from 15th January and the commuters not using FASTag will have to pay double the amount as toll. “Cash lane people are entering first. FAStag people who are blacklisted that is without balance they enter. So there we are getting stuck. Simply they have FASTag stickers for show to enter the lane and create trouble. This is some negative response that we are getting”, said Mr. S Somashekhar, General Manager, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).
Mr. Somashekhar also added that there is a fluctuating scenario in the case of revenue from the FASTags. Sometimes it is low and at times it is high. To decrease the congestion, there are targets given to the NHAI department to look after increasing the movement speed of the vehicles at the toll gates up to 20kms so that there is no waiting at the toll gates. “Our ultimate goal is to see that there is no delay at the toll at all. The vehicles at whatever speed they are coming like if vehicles are coming at a speed of 70 km per hour then similar speed they should move without any stoppage but however the amount should be collected. There are some error in the apps now. They are not doing their correct job. So, there is a lot of difference between the amount collected and the no of vehicles moving and other delays are happening.”, said Mr. MN Srihari, CEO, Traffic agency consultants service.
