Highway toll systems to go cashless

Klang Valley toll plazas to go cash-free starting Jan 13.

KUALA LUMPUR: Effective June 1, the toll plazas of six more highways in the Klang Valley and Penang will convert to a full electronic toll collection (ETC) system.

These highways are the Sungai Besi Highway (E9 Besraya), Butterworth Outer Ring Road (E17 LLB), Kajang SILK Highway (E18), South Klang Valley Expressway (E26 SKVE), the Second Penang Bridge (E28), and the New North Klang Straits Bypass (E30 Grand Sepadu).

Association of Highway Concessionaires Malaysia (PSKLM) vice-president Sazally Saidi announced this at Besraya office near the Loke Yew toll plazayesterday, saying that this was the next step to convert all toll systems nationwide to cashless system.

“We want to implement full ETC system to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the toll plazas so that motorists will have shorter waiting time.

“This will allow for a reduced concentration of vehicles at toll plazas and smoother flowing traffic,” Sazally added.

Sazally said cash transaction at toll plazas take an average of 15 seconds per transaction, allowing for about 400 vehicles to pass through a single toll lane in one hour. However Touch N’ Go lanes can process 6-second transactions and 550 vehicles in one hour, while Smart Tag lanes can process 3-second transactions and 1,000 vehicles in one hour.

He referred to a case study on the Damansara toll plaza on the Sprint Highway, where the longest queues recorded before and after the implementation of the full cashless system in March were 300m and 10m respectively.

Each of these six highways will be offering three types of incentives for toll users to switch to cashless toll payment.

A total of 108,500 Touch N’ Go cards will be given out for free with a minimum credit purchase of RM5.

Smart Tags will also be sold at a promotional price of RM104.95 (inclusive of 6% GST) with a minimum credit purchase of RM20.

Motorists who use Class 1 vehicles (cars) on these six highways will also enjoy a 10% rebate between June 1 and July 31.

To ensure a smooth conversion process, Sazally advised new users of the cashless system to ensure that their Touch N’ Go cards had enough credit for their journey and that their Smart Tags had working batteries and were functioning properly.

He added that the government hoped to convert the remaining 12 of the 31 highways operating nationwide into full cashless system by 2018.