Head count: Abdul Aziz Noor Azudin, 26, who received more than one thousand orders checking on his herd of goats before delivery to buyers for Raya Haji at his farm in Gombak. — AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: It’s going to be another busy weekend on the highways as Malaysians head out of Klang Valley for the Hari Raya Haji celebration.
PLUS Malaysia (PLUS) expects about 1.9 million vehicles on the highways everyday from today to July 12, as the festival falls on Sunday.
Its chief operating officer Datuk Zakaria Ahmad Zabidi said with the increase of some 100,000 vehicles on the expressway daily, some congestion and a prolonged travel time is expected.
The highway has a daily volume of 1.8 million vehicles on any normal day, Bernama reported.
Zakaria advised motorists to adhere to the Travel Time Advisory (TTA) issued by PLUS to reduce traffic congestion.
Motorists have been asked to plan their journey beforehand.
“Highway users from the Klang Valley heading towards Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak (North) and Johor (Group A) can enter the highway before 10am between July 7 and 10.
“The others, including those with closer destinations, can enter the highway after 1pm,” he said in statement yesterday.
Zakaria explained that the TTA was designed based on historical traffic data.
It is aimed at distributing traffic and circumventing the convergence of traffic as vehicles enter the highway at the same time on major highway stretches, toll plazas and rest areas, thus reducing congestion.
For the return trip from July 10 to 12, those in Group A are advised to enter the highway before 9am.
“Based on our studies, travel time can double if motorists choose not to adhere to the TTA schedule,” Zakaria said.
He said regular traffic updates could be obtained through the @PLUSTrafik Twitter service, the PLUS Application, the toll free PLUSLine at 1800-88-0000, PUTRI Chatbot, on electronic message signs (VMS) along the highway mainline and also announcements via major radio stations.
Using Waze or Google Maps is also highly recommended to help highway users better plan their journeys, he added while reminding highway users to have sufficient balance in their Touch ‘n Go cards or eWallets for toll payments.
