Tolling Around the Global: All-Electronic Toll Bridge Connects Asian, European Sides of Istanbul

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, and an array of foreign dignitaries were on hand late last month for the inauguration of the all-electronic Eurasia Tunnel, a $1.25-billion, 14.5-kilometre facility that connects the Asian and European sides of Istanbul and will ease the city’s notorious traffic congestion.

“The Eurasia Tunnel, which will significantly reduce the travel time between Istanbul's Kazlıçeşme on the European side and Göztepe on the Asian side, was planned in connection with the three existing bridges crossing the Bosporus strait,” the Daily Sabah reports. “The tunnel, expected to provide a practical solution to Istanbul's traffic problem, will cut down the travel time between the two sides of Istanbul to just 15 minutes” from a current peak average of 100 minutes.

The news report connects that promise directly to all-electronic tolling. “To avoid traffic jams,” the Sabah states, “tolls will be collected via automatic systems, and there will be no options for cash payments. There are no exclusive lanes for Electronic Toll Collection System (OGS) and Fast Toll Collection System users.”

The tunnel is expected to carry 100,000 vehicles per day, and will feature uninterrupted 4.5G mobile data service at a depth of 106 meters below the Bosporus

“While the traffic flow will become smoother thanks to the expansion and regulation of connection roads at the entrance and exit points of the tunnel, the tunnel will also help reduce environmental pollution and noise,” the paper adds. “As the project, will be the shortest route between Kazlıçeşme and Göztepe, it will reduce fuel costs, as well as the amount of harmful gas released into the air and the maintenance costs of vehicles.”

Toll rates were originally set at 15 Turkish Lira (US$4.17) for cars, TL 22.50 (US$6.25) for mini-buses. Those rates saw a small, temporary increase last week. “The revenue collected since the opening of the Eurasia Tunnel will be transferred to the account opened by the Ministry of Family and Social Policy for the families of martyrs and veterans,” the Daily Sabah explains.