Environment

KEY POINTS

·         FASTag is a device that employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly from the prepaid account linked to it.

·         It is affixed on the windscreen of the vehicle and enables people to drive through toll plazas.

·         RFID readers are cheap, inter-operable and not locked in to any particular vendor.

·         Through this technology, each car gets a unique ID, and is linked to a bank account/wallet.

·         Money is deducted based on the event that has happened, like passing a toll booth.

To reduce Air pollution

·         This year, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) is ordering measures such as banning road-side parking and the retiring of old cars.

·         FASTag readers can be used to implement many of the policy recommendations of the NGT that are otherwise difficult to implement.

·         Pollution Under Control Certificates (PUC) can be linked to the FASTag accounts, and a tag without a valid PUC can be fined automatically when it crosses a reader.

·         The government can run experiments like it did with Odd-Even last year and then quickly scale them up if needed in an automated way.

·         These tags can regulate parking, while simultaneously creating a revenue opportunity for cities.

·         FASTags can ensure that a no-parking sign is not just a warning, but a serious penalty for those looking to park illegally.

·         FASTag can implement congestion pricing.

·         Delhi, especially, with the subcontinent’s most extensive metro network, and yet the third highest density of cars (424 cars per 1,000 people), needs congestion pricing.

·         The pricing itself can be dynamic to affect demand.

·         The same FASTags can enable the government to have lower congestion pricing for those who are pooling to work.

·         The most important difficulty to solve most of the problems are the government lacks granular traffic data needed to make better decisions.

·         Basically, an invisible toll booth that doesn’t collect a toll but captures every time any car crosses it. This data can be immensely powerful when used correctly.

·         With a trusted implementation of FASTag readers, the government can get such anonymized data directly from the ground.