Thanks To Revanth, A Solution To Sankranthi Traffic?

It is a common tradition for Hyderabad to witness a huge outflow of traffic during the Sankranti festival season as the settlers population tend to travel to hometown for the festival season. This is naturally accumulates a lot of traffic at the Vijayawada-bound tollbooth station. 

There are times when the commute duration gets more than doubled due to the extreme traffic conditions at the toll station. However, with the intervention of Telangana, CM Revanth Reddy and concerned minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, the situation is likely to come under control soon.

Acting on these representations made by Revanth, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) conducted a satellite-based automatic toll collection trial at the Pantangi toll plaza on the Hyderabad–Vijayawada highway on Thursday evening.

The toll plaza has 16 booths, of which eight booths on the Vijayawada-bound side were utilised for the trial. Cameras and sensors were tested to ensure accurate detection of vehicle numbers and automatic deduction of toll amounts without vehicles having to stop.

Officials observed minor glitches, including instances where toll amounts were not deducted, and said corrective measures were underway. To manage traffic surges, two additional booths will be opened, where FASTag payments will be scanned using handheld devices.

Once fully operational, the system is expected to clear up to 20 vehicles per minute per booth, significantly reducing congestion during peak festive travel, according to NHAI officials.