Automatic Toll Gate System: Getting Rid Of Recalcitrant Collectors

Once installed, the new system will help increase the amount of toll collection on national roads across the country.

Along the Douala-Yaounde highway, December 30, 2017, precisely at the Akoa Maria toll gate in Mbankomo, here were two lads who seemed to be patriotic at first sight. But a closer observation of the toll collectors showed they were young men wanting in decency.

Many a passenger in the oncoming bus could not understand the swiftness with which about four of five cars ahead had passed through the toll gate without being issued receipts, yet they paid the statutory FCFA 500 each. Here were two young men, who had presumably not put in up to two years in service, ultimately executing a plan to deprive the State of road funds. And the case is not an isolated one.

Like the Akoa Maria experience, similar cases abound on a daily basis at toll gates across the country. As such, the putting in place of some 14 automatic toll gates on national roads in Cameroon is expected to curb the rising tide. The electronic system, which has been commended by motorists and gained global acceptance, will benefit toll operators (National Road Fund), road users, the government and society at large.

Frist, the new toll system is going to drastically reduce revenue leakages associated with the traditional toll system presently in place. This will directly increase the revenue accruing from toll collection on roads where the system will be installed. Again, the system will ensure transparency of all transactions as it will be able to automatically record for ...