The Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) flyway on Tuesday witnessed seamless movement of vehicles as the toll authority on Tuesday updated its existing technology related to the toll software and hardware-functioning in the lanes. With the functioning of the new technology that has been announced recently, the DND users will cross the plaza without stopping at toll booths.
The toll authority said that upgradation work has not only reduced the travel time on the 9.2 km stretch connecting Delhi to Noida, it has minimised the hassle caused by long queues at various lanes. Notably, the carriageway, which records traffic volume of nearly two lakh every day, experiences congestion during peak hours due to manual operation of the booths — the move is aimed to curb this menace.
As per the report, the Noida Toll Bridge Company Limited (NTBCL), which ensures upkeep and maintenance of the carriageway, had earlier entered into an agreement with an Austria-based company to upgrade its existing technology.
The company, under the agreement, upgraded all its 43 lanes — 31 lanes at Noida end and 11 lanes at the Mayur Vihar link with the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. Under the proposed system, all lanes were converted into ‘gold lanes’ within a period of six months and the users were given a chip in the form of an RFID tag, which will be charged on the lines of a gold card.
Under the system, the barriers before the toll booths were rising on their own and the toll amount was being deducted from the RFID tag. As many as 26 lanes have been dedicated for this purpose only and the remaining will be used by cash and silver card users. If a motorist enters through the general lane, the electronic toll collection system will start operating. Earlier, the plaza was operating on IR as well microwave technology.
After updating, the plaza has started functioning on the RFID basis. “With the vehicle volume increasing with every passing day, the need of the hour was to ensure uninterrupted flow of vehicles on the stretch. By equipping the toll lanes with RFID, travel time has been reduced to 20 minutes,” said Anwar Abbasi, spokesperson of the NTBCL.