MSRDC asks all toll nakas to go on auto mode

In a bid to bring transparency and to do away with the difficulty in keeping track of number of vehicles passing through toll nakas, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has made it mandatory for all toll booths in the state to install Automated Traffic Count and Classification System (ATCCS).u00a0

Countdown begins: The ATCCS has been installed on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, from which the MSRDC is getting monthly data regarding the number of vehicles, revenue and other details. File Pic

The ATCCS is an advanced technology, capable of automatically counting the exact number of vehicles per category and the revenue collected in form of toll everyday. The road development corporation has also issued a notice to all tollbooths under its control, and hopes that the system will be installed soon.

"For the nakas which are under the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) policy, it is the responsibility of the concerned contractor to install the system," said an MSRDC official. u00a0Recently, the ATCCS has been installed on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, from which the MSRDC is getting monthly data regarding the number of vehicles, revenue and other details.

"Apart from the Expressway, other toll nakas are counting the vehicles manually. It is not possible to count vehicles manually everyday, so for every highway, the number of vehicles is counted for two weeks and the ratio of private vehicle per unit for a year is calculated. By using the ATCCS, the MSRDC can get accurate figures of vehicles. At the initial stage it will be installed at 27 toll nakas of the state.

The expressway is the first highway of the country which has adopted this system," said a senior MSRDC official. u00a0"The proposal of installing ATCCS was approved almost four years back, but the toll nakas and top officials of the state government have been postponing implementation. Contractors of many nakas are opposing the new system. There is lots of corruption in the collection of the toll and contractors don't want transparency in the data," said Chandmal Parmar, committee member of National Highway Authority of India.u00a0