QCOSTARICA – The tolls on the Ruta Uno at Río Segundo de Alajuela (east of the airport) and Naranjo, will launch the “electronic payment” system through the Quickpass next week; however, unlike smooth passage of electronic payment on the Ruta 27, for example, drivers will have to stop at the collection point to comply with a verification process.
That is, the Fideicomiso Ruta Uno (Ruta Uno Trust) will start accepting electronic payment, but require drivers to come to stop, just as they do if paying in cash so that the booth attendant can make a manual classification of the type of vehicle and indicate such to the system to process the correct payment.
“To pay the toll, the user must stop completely at the toll booth for a few seconds, so that the toll operator manually classifies the vehicle and through a screen, informs the driver the amount of the (toll) rate and, once the payment is made, either in cash or by means of the TAG (electronic devices), the toll operator will proceed to lift the barrier so that the user can continue their journey,” said the Operation Manager of the Administrative Unit of the Trust, Verónica Sáenz.
During this week work is being done on improving infrastructure, minor repairs and installation of the necessary elements for the start-up of the project, such as barriers or needles, computer equipment and systems. Work is also being done on staff training.
Those in charge of the “electronic payment” project avoided indicating whether the new system could cause a slower transit through the collection point and only stated that “in a second phase, the electronic collection will be applied without the need to stop.”
At the moment it is indicated that all tollbooths will have the option of receiving payment through the Quickpass and, also, maintaining the service with cash. In both cases, the needles will be required to be lifted by the tollbooth operator in order to continue through.
“Come up, stop, wait and go” is the headline the Ruta Uno Trust uses to describe the new electronic payment system.
“Users only have to follow four simple steps to pay the toll in cash or with Quickpass device,” notes the Ruta Uno website.
The current toll charges on the Ruta Uno:
For now, there will be no exclusive lanes for electronic payment, the Ruta Uno Trust says it is considering such, depending on the demand.
“It would depend, of course, on generating a high demand for drivers with the digital charging device, which merits having one of the charging lines to serve them exclusively,” said the Ruta Uno Trust.
“At first it is not being considered because the toll stations have few toll lines and, as one is enabled for this service without sufficient demand, it could result in an unproductive effort that ends up affecting other users,” it justified.
The money from the collection of tolls on Ruta Uno will be used for the road expansion of the Interamericana highway section between La Sabana and San Ramón.
