In the journey towards sustainability, smart mobility is a vital tool to increase fuel efficiency and avoid congestion. Towards this, the Indian government is rapidly upgrading the country's transport infrastructure by propelling multiple high-stake highway projects throughout the country. In addition to good infrastructure, blending road transportation with the Internet of things (IoT) is touted to be the future of mobility.
On Thursday, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) held a day-long stakeholder consultation workshop on tolling based on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The workshop aimed to gather opinions and recommendations on various aspects of the GNSS-based tolling system from multiple stakeholders and industry experts. This was a step towards planning and developing the future roadmap for India's free-flow tolling system based on GNSS technology.
GNSS provides a powerful solution to many of today's road tolling operators' challenges, such as knowing who is on a given road, for how long, and over what distance — all with high accuracy and reliability. NHAI has already conducted a pilot project on this at some highway stretches over the Delhi-Mumbai corridor, and the results were presented during the workshop.
Under the current proposal, the NHAI can geo-fence the highway stretches and have virtual tolling points with GNSS technology-based tolling system. Every time a vehicle equipped with a GNSS OBU passes through one of these virtual tolling points, the central system will calculate the distance travelled based on satellite signals from multiple satellite constellations run by ISRO. The applicable fee will then be calculated immediately and deducted from the user's bank account.
Many European countries have already developed and implemented national truck tolling policies, with some utilising satellite-based state-of-the-art technologies. For pricing road use, the ability to precisely locate and track a vehicle in space and time is becoming increasingly important. The GNSS technology has a proven track record of efficient functioning capability on multiple highways across Europe.
The tech allows the satellite to calculate the distance, time, and location regulation and can be accustomed to nationwide road networks covering all vehicle and road types. In recent years, it has become the primary technology for distance-based electronic truck toll collection across Europe, including Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria.
For discussions on a GNSS-based tolling system, NHAI invited multiple stakeholders, including government agencies like ISRO, NIC, industry players like vehicle manufacturers, AIS-140 On-Board Unit (OBU) manufacturers, global GNSS service providers, banks, and payment aggregators/gateway service providers. During the workshop, consultants and industry experts held sessions and presentations on international best practices, various aspects of GNSS architecture, the payment settlement process, proposed enforcement measures, and the legal framework requirements.
Giridhar Aramane, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, stated, "The stakeholder consultation is important to discuss various issues involved in GNSS based tolling deployment and seeking suggestions. We have to ensure that the process of toll collection is seamless. To achieve this objective, we need to have a technology framework that will enable us to operate efficiently, is economical and acceptable to various stakeholders."
The message is being heard, with GNSS-based technologies making significant inroads across the globe. Slovakia serves as an excellent case study, with the country increasing the length of roads covered by such a charging system from about 2,500 km to about 17,800 km in just three months. With NHAI hitting the pedal on this technology, India may also witness a similar transformation in the coming years.
