Role of Technology in NHAI’s Commuter-Centric Initiatives

1. Role of Technology in NHAI’s Commuter-Centric Initiatives The growing technological applications are pushing businesses, organisations, and governments to embrace technology at a faster pace. The concept of using the technology in the governance and administration was started way back in 2000’s. The National e-governance plan of the government of India, which was started by the government of India in 2006, was first of its kind then in India. This program initiated a slew of measures to fast-track the pace of technological adoption. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is one such organisation which has been at the forefront in leveraging different technologies. The Government of India in the year 2015 launched ‘Digital India’, an ambitious program with a vision of creating a digitally empowered India. This initiative pushed government departments and ministries to come up with different citizen-centric initiatives. Accordingly, the NHAI has rolled out many tech-based initiatives and applications. The National Highways Authority of India, which is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), is a statutory body of the Government of India. It was created for the development and maintenance of the major portion of the national highway network. Ranging from procurement of materials to project implementation and Serving commuters to structuring national highways, technology has taken the first seat in the journey of NHAI. Here are some of the popular tech-led and tech-based initiatives flagged off by the NHAI: FASTag Earlier referred to Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system, the FASTag toll collection system has been benefitting commuters in a large way. The NHAI has launched this system to reduce congestion at Toll Plazas. FASTag is an electronic tag, which works on Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID). This tag, when affixed to a vehicle’s windscreen, makes it easy for RFID sensors to detect the vehicle. When a FASTagged vehicle passes by a FASTag-enabled Toll Plaza, the RFID sensors detect the vehicle and deduct the Toll without a human intervention. This system is helping traders and commuters by making them move faster at Toll Plazas. The Government of India also made it mandatory to have a FASTag for every new vehicle purchased after November 2017. Accordingly, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) directed the NHAI to develop at least one dedicated FASTag lane on either side of all Toll Plazas operated by it. Many private fin-tech partners like Paytm and financial institutions have come forward to take this system to masses. As this system is an electronic one, the NHAI can gauge the traffic pertaining to highways, which would be useful for a perfect planning of future projects of it.

2. Sukhad Yatra App This mobile App is commuter-centric. In the backdrop of raising complaints from commuters, the NHAI along with its technical partners has developed the Sukhad Yatra App, which translates to ‘Happy Journey’. Using this mobile application, commuters can report on issues faced by them while travelling on national highways. Commuters can get to know the coming Toll plaza and Toll Plaza enroute in advance through this App. The ‘Nearby’ feature of this App helps travellers/commuters to find nearby restaurants and amenities like Highway Nests and Highway Villages. These are just two examples of how NHAI is letting technology to find ways to solve commuter- related problems. With this kind of developments, the national highway network of India is going to be more commuter-friendly in the coming days. #SukhadYatra #FASTagTollPlaza