Reducing Traffic Bottlenecks through Completion of National Highways

According to the latest statistics announced by the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the majority of highway operations in the country took place in 2023, with the longest being the Shiraz to Isfahan freeway.

Over the past three years, 2,015 kilometers of main roads and highways have been inaugurated nationwide, which has been especially impactful in the Sistan and Baluchestan province and along the Makran coasts.

According to the report, one of the most important factors facilitating the more comprehensive and efficient completion of the country’s freeways is the provision of funding and return on investment through toll revenues. Previously, a significant portion of toll collection was conducted manually, which resulted in long queues at toll booths. However, in recent years, with the transition to electronic toll collection systems, vehicle queues have significantly decreased.

Nonetheless, one of the challenges that emerged in this area is non-payment of tolls by users and the consequent lack of investment returns to contractors, which has slowed down the completion and construction process of freeway projects.