University of São Paulo: Toll proportional to the kilometer traveled should make the tariff fairer
It is planned to replace common toll plazas with gantries, structures that are much simpler and require less maintenance. However, this is not the only change that Free Flow , a free passage system without barriers and with a charge more proportional to the number of kilometers driven, intends to bring to Brazilian highways.
“Pilot experiences are very important because you learn from these limited, restricted experiences, to later develop a system that is more adequate and works better”, explains Professor Claudio Barbieri, from the Department of Transport Engineering at the USP Polytechnic School. The free flow was approved and, as the professor said, it is in the testing phase. The first gantries were inaugurated in some stretches of the BR-101 and also on the Ayrton Senna highway (SP-070).
System
The passage will work through the use of a tag , that is, an electronic tag that can be pasted, generally, on the inside of the car, on the windshield; or also by plate identification. “The driver who already has the electronic tag, the one he already uses at conventional toll booths so he doesn’t have to stop, will continue using this technique: nothing has changed for him. For that driver who uses a highway that is now charged for the free flow , the difference is that he will receive a charge by mail or some other means of communication, saying that he owes this fee”, adds Barbieri. In cases where the driver does not have a tag, payment can be made via Pix, at the bank, or also by other means offered by the highway concessionaire.
Claudio Barbieri
The professor analyzes that, with the replacement of common plazas, there may be a change in the tariff price: “At the moment when the concessionaire can replace a toll plaza, which is a structure that requires maintenance, it has a lot of equipment and many employees working 24 hours, through a much cheaper automatic billing structure, it may even be possible to reduce the toll rate”. He also hints that even a discount for more frequent users would be envisaged.
Currently, the system is hybrid due to the testing phase, but Barbieri believes that this change will not be so fast: “I think that the toll plazas will gradually disappear. I don’t think it’s going to eliminate all of them from one hour to another”.
Goals
The professor indicates that the Free Flow project has several objectives: “I think the main objective is to reduce bottlenecks and congestion. It is also necessary to increase safety, and another aspect that we cannot forget is the aspect of charging a tariff that is a little closer to the actual use of each highway user”. The lower cost of the portico compared to the old booths makes it possible to install plazas with a reduced distance between them: “Today you cannot make a toll plaza every five kilometers, toll plazas in general are spaced from 30 to 40 kilometers. Many people have the feeling that they are paying too much toll. The free flow modelit will allow a fairer charge, because this gantry can be installed every 5 km and it turns out that the charge can be made proportionally to the distance travelled”.