"We target to commence implementation of the system by December 2022," BPJT's I Operation and Maintenance Sub-department Head, Galuh Permana Waluyo, stated at an online seminar in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The sub-department head also projected the complete adoption of contactless toll road payment, known as single-lane free flow (SLFF) or multi-lane free-flow (MLFF), in Indonesia to conclude by September 2023.
"The system will proceed with gradual adoption. We will not demolish the toll gates by now, as we will first adopt SLFF on the existing toll gates in the pilot phase," Waluyo stated.
The implementation of contactless payment will start from toll roads within the Greater Jakarta agglomeration area, he stated.
"Regarding which toll roads will first adopt the system, the assessment is still ongoing with standardized criteria that take several factors into account. Yet, our earlier assessment concludes that toll roads within the Greater Jakarta region are the most suitable for the pilot phase," the sub-department head remarked.
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The toll road authority will disseminate information regarding adoption of the cashless toll payment system and inform the public about which toll roads will accept only contactless payment, he stated.
"We also want drivers that pass through the toll road to be ready with the new system to reduce the likelihood of payment violations," Waluyo stated.
The sub-department head noted that apart from reducing traffic congestion at toll gates, the adoption of contactless toll payments will also reduce pollution and carbon emissions as well as promote national payment digitization and cashless programme.
The open road tolling will ensure the efficiency of toll payment collection by the BUJT and ensure the authority will keep 100 percent of the roll payment revenue percentage, he added.
Earlier, the BPJT confirmed that the agency will proceed with the gradual adoption of the open road tolling through the adoption of SLFF that will operate in tandem with the existing cashless tolling and the eventual transition to MLFF that would render toll gates obsolete.
BPJT Chairperson Danang Parikesit informed that while the contactless toll payment adoption plan will be subject to routine evaluation, toll roads in major urban centers, such as Greater Jakarta and Surabaya in East Java, might be among the first toll roads to adopt the new payment system.
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Translator: Aji Cakti, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Suharto
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