In a significant move, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Friday (May 1) operationalised India’s first Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) barrier-less tolling system at the Choryasi toll plaza on the Surat–Bharuch section of NH-48 in Gujarat. Choryasi ranks among the top 10 toll plazas in the country in user fee collection. This marks a major milestone in India’s electronic toll collection (ETC) infrastructure, which started in 2014. Currently, vehicles have to stop at the fee plaza to pay the user fee. The MLFF system removes the need for boom barriers and vehicles to stop for toll collection. Instead, high-performance Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) readers and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras read the FASTag and Vehicle Registration Number (VRN). The Choryasi toll. The new system is expected to reduce travel time, decongest highways (especially near toll plazas), improve fuel efficiency and lower vehicular emissions.…