Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge Toll Collection Goes Cashless Today

Right from inception (c2011 for the expressway and 2013 for the bridge) users have had the options of using either the swiftpass system or the etag system.

A sticker is put on your windshield for the etag system and the camera reads the sticker and debits your account as you pass. This means that you don’t need to stop at all.

The swiftpass system requires the use of a card that you swipe against a sensor at the toll both.

These two systems, along with the exact change lane and the regular lane (where you pay in cash and are given your change), have existed since the beginning. The only difference now is that they are scrapping the cash lanes on the bridge.

This is the way that you pay without cash.

1) E-tag: There’s a sticker on your windscreen, like the sticker in the first picture below. There’s also a camera at the toll booth. The camera reads your sticker which identifies who you are. The system immediately communicates with your LCC account and debits it and lifts the boom to allow you through the toll gate. This means that you can pass through the toll gate without stopping.

2) Swiftpass: You have one of the cards in the second picture below. You swipe the card against a sensor at the toll booth and your account is debited and it lets you through the toll gate.

There are two cards in the second picture. That’s because there were two tolling companies when Governor Fashola set up the system. There was the Lekki Concession Company, which was in charge of collecting toll at the Admiralty Circle Plaza (on the Lekki-Ikoyi Expressway) and the Lekki Tolling Company, which was in charge of collecting toll on the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge. Governor Ambode cancelled the Lekki Tolling Company’s concession and handed it over to the Lekki Concession Company.

There are two benefits of this cashless policy on the bridge and one potentially very serious problem.

The first and obvious benefit is that traffic will flow faster because people won’t stop at the toll plaza to collect change.

The second benefit has to do with LCC’s practice of closing some toll gates during rush hour. One of the biggest criticisms of LCC is that they leave some gates closed (both on the expressway and on the bridge) even during rush hour. I’ve always wondered why they do this. Do they gain any benefit from the traffic jams? Then it finally hit me. The fewer toll gates that are open = the less wages they’ll have to pay. The fact that the system is now automated might mean that they can afford to leave the gates open all the time.

There’s a potentially really big problem that they might have to address. I hate using the Admiralty Circle Plaza if the e-tag gate is not working. Yet, oftentimes the e-tag gate is not working during rush hour because their systems are down. Are they sure that they will be able to keep their systems running continuously now? They should realise that some people are going to approach the toll plaza without any cash, since you can no longer pay with cash. What happens to those people if the system breaks down?

e-tag sticker

Swiftpass cards

The voucher system is for people that don’t pass the bridge often. Usually, if there’s a massive traffic jam on the bridge, there’ll be LCC agents walking on the bridge and selling vouchers. You can buy these vouchers from them before you get to the toll gate and you use these vouchers to pay at the gate.

I was right. This is exactly what I said would happen with the vouchers (we’ve already had this system on the bridge for a long time, but it doesn’t exist on the expressway).

You can buy either the prepaid cards or vouchers at our customer service centres at any of our toll plazas or from our Roving Toll Collectors in the lanes on the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge Toll Plaza.

My only problem now is that the scanners at the bridge are a little slow. I don’t need to slow down at the expressway. The scanner can read my e-tag while I’m doing 40kmph, but the scanners on the bridge often need me to come to a complete stop before they can read my e-tag. I once paid cash because it couldn’t read my e-tag.

What’s actually happening on January 1st is that toll collection on the bridge will strictly be cashless and it is slightly cheaper to pay using the e-tag or Swiftpass card than it is to pay with cash.

https://www.lcc.com.ng/tariffslist.as

This is for the people that mentioned danfo.

The following vehicles have been banned from the bridge since it was built (in fact, I remember that the former governor emphasised this fact in his speech during the commissioning of the bridge).

1) Motorcycles below 200cc capacity (Okada)

2) Auto rickshaws (Keke Marwa)

3) Minibus taxis (danfo)

4) Large goods trucks.

5) High capacity buses (Molue, BRT, etc.)

6) Trailer trucks

Although commercial motorcycles are banned from the bridge, some commercial motorcyclists used the bridge after it was commissioned. They usually get off their bikes and carry them onto the walkway just before the toll plaza and then bring them back onto the road after the toll plaza. Many of these motorcyclists were later arrested.

However, soldiers and policemen on (private) motorcycles continued to use the bridge and the managing director of the LCC had to report them to the authorities at the Nigerian Army a few months ago.

Some commercial motorcyclists still use the bridge, but this is usually during rush hour. They pick people from Alexander Avenue and drop them just before the toll plaza. Then they pick people that are waiting on the sidewalk after the toll plaza, do a U-turn and head back to Ikoyi.

Danfo buses have been banned from that bridge since it was built. The yellow and black danfo buses are not allowed into Lekki Phase 1. The estate has its own white shuttle buses and even the Lekki shuttle buses are not allowed on the bridge. That’s why some people prefer the bridge, because they don’t have to jostle with crazy danfo drivers.

Note that, according to the article, this cashless policy will only be applied on the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge. It won’t be applied on the expressway