Test runs without using barriers at expressway tollways to start Sunday
Trials using tollgates without barriers on the elevated expressway will start on Sunday to see whether the measure could help reduce the long queues of vehicles, a senior official said.
Damkerng Pankham, deputy governor of the Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT), said the trial would start as a pilot project at the Asoke 3 tollgates of the elevated expressway.
Damkerng said the Bangkok Expressway and Metro Plc (BEM), which has the concession to operate the expressway, has been informed to begin the trial.
Currently, each tollgate has a barrier that is lowered after a vehicle passes to ensure the next vehicle pays the toll. The barrier is also used on automatic tollgates where the fee is deducted from the Easy Pass radio contact card.
Damkerng said during the trial all the barriers at the Asoke 3 gate will remain open all the time, saving the time lost in lowering and lifting them. The lifting of the barriers will be applied to both manual cash payment and automatic tollgates, he added.
He said officials will be deployed to ensure that vehicles will leave the proper interval time before passing each tollgate.
He added that for Easy Pass tollgates, the BEM will come up with measures to check and retroactively charge vehicle owners if their vehicles pass through the gates before the automatic system deducts the fee in time.
If the trial proves successful, the EXAT and BEM will stop using barriers at other gates as well, Damkerng said.