IN a bid to ease traffic congestion, the Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) will be rolling out its multimillion-dollar automated tolling system.

Speaking about this new initiative, DHB General Manager Wayne Watson said that a pilot phase of the system, which started in February this year with a few selected vehicles, went well, thus inspiring the move to officially roll out the system to the public from today.

According to Mr. Watson, commuters will only be required to pay their toll via a Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, which will be placed on the front of their vehicles, and on their mobile phones.
Bridge commuters, he said, will be registered to a database, and they will need to have funds in their mobile money account.

The magnetic RFID tag, he explained, will be placed on the vehicle, and when it approaches the toll station on the eastern end of the bridge, the system’s sensors will identify the commuter’s vehicle, using the tag, and the toll will be deducted automatically.

He noted that with this system, different tags will be created for different vehicles, whether cars, trucks or vans.

Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police (ag) Clifton Hicken, who visited the bridge on Thursday, was pleased to point out that there was a relatively smooth flow of traffic on both the eastern and western end of the bridge during the peak hours, with no visible signs of the usual traffic congestion.

This, he said, is an indication that the current strategy is working, in terms of opening two lanes of traffic (double lane) going east – (West Bank to East Bank across the bridge) from 06:00hrs to 07:00hrs. A second opening for two-lane traffic will depend on the traffic situation on both sides of the bridge.

Following the meeting, Commissioner Hicken and his team did a brief inspection of the new police outpost located at the eastern end of the DHB.
Watson related that the police outpost is to aid in the prevention and detection of crime, and to enhance the monitoring of any traffic situation in the area.

He said, too, that the DHB administration has also donated a motorcycle to the police, which is already being used by traffic ranks to execute their duties in and around the bridge area.

MORE TRAFFIC RANKS
In an effort to further boost the Force’s traffic strategy, Traffic Chief Ramesh Ashram said more traffic ranks will be visible at specific points along the road to assess the traffic situation, and in the event of a build-up or congestion, a decision will be taken to open up an extra lane to ease the flow of traffic. Also, more traffic cones will be placed at strategic points on the road to aid in the free flow of traffic.

“The new arrangement entails having more ranks on the ground to constantly monitor the traffic situation, and any buildup of the traffic on either side; that information will be passed upwards, and can trigger a double lane… The idea is to move the traffic, and not get it stagnated on either side of the bridge,” the Traffic Chief said.