Ben Uzor Jr
As the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) prepares to commence tolling on the rehabilitated 49.4 kilometre Lekki-Epe express way, the company has disclosed that it would adopt electronic payment systems as a method of toll payment to provide the much needed convenience to road users. Moreover, manual payment which involves the use of cash would also be accepted at the toll plaza.
The company also revealed that the roads would eventually have three toll plaza which would include the ‘Admiralty Circle Plaza’ (Km 3; in the vicinity of the Palms Shopping Mall), ‘Conservation Plaza’ (Km 13; in the vicinity of Chevron Nigeria Limited) and ‘Campus Plaza’ (Km 23; in the vicinity of the Pan African University). The toll plazas have been installed with advanced tolling technology for users ease.
Opuiyo Oforiokuma, chief executive officer, LCC who made these observations at a media parley in Lagos recently further pointed out by the beginning of August the firm would begin tolling of the roads. He observed that the company’s primary focus was to guarantee that users of the new Lekki-Epe Expressway enjoy first-class experience each time they choose to use the road.
He stated that advanced technology was deployed at each plaza to ensure tolling efficiency through automatic vehicle classification and electronic toll collection. But more importantly, these Toll plazas were designed to accommodate three methods of toll payment; namely: eTag electronic payment device, the SwiftPass electronic contactless card, and cash.
eTag is an electronic device that is capable of receiving signals from electronic sensors installed at the Toll Plazas. Vehicles on the eTag account receive the highest price incentives. It also provides the fastest and most convenient access through the Toll Plazas as you do not have to stop as you drive through.
On other hand, SwiftPass is a contactless card that enables electronic payment at the Toll Plazas. It is a more convenient and cheaper option of payment than cash, the company explained. “We now about to enter into the next major phase of this project which is the revenue collection stage and importantly for that, you can see that it’s not just about us standing at plaza and collecting money.
“There is a lot science, there is a lot of planning and methodology behind this for us to now be offering electronic payment platforms with critical feature like the eTag, SwitchPass. These are all things we have spoken to you about in the past. At least, you now begin to get a visual of what your experience would be like. We have always emphasised three key platforms that are important to LCC which is about improving the road users convenience, their journey times and their safety”, Oforiokuma added.
He went on, “The SwiftPass and eTag are pre-loaded with funds. After every successful passage through one of the toll plazas, the balance of funds credited to the particular device used is debited with the corresponding toll charged at the time of passage. It is therefore important to ensure that your electronic toll payment device is loaded with sufficient funds for the passage you wish to make otherwise you will not be able to use the device at the time, and may instead have to pay with cash.
“Where customers register for an LCC Customer Account, thereby subscribing for an enhanced level of service, LCC will notify account holders via SMS or e-mail when the balance on their account is low, to enable them top-up their accounts with funds in good time before their next trip”, the CEO concluded.
The Lekki Toll Road Concession was designed to deliver essential road infrastructure and services along the Lekki-Epe Peninsular of Lagos.
It is Nigeria’s first ever Toll Road Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. In addition to visible features such as new electronic toll collection technology at the Toll Plazas, the high quality road pavement, new drainage system, pedestrian overhead walkway bridges and traffic and street lights, the Lekki Toll Road incorporates other features that are not visible to the eye, the company observed.
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