Plus using new tech so drivers can pass through toll gates faster

Highway operator Plus is using number plate recognition tech that lets users to drive through toll gates faster, if using touchless payments. — Plus

Plus Malaysia Bhd (Plus) is implementing technology that enables users to drive through tolls faster when using touchless payments.

It announced that Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) would make the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) cashless toll payment system run more smoothly, allowing users to pass-through at up to 30km/h.

This is compared to the more widely used SmartTag system, which has a 20km/h pass-through speed.

The system is now being used along the Hutan Kampung-Sungai Dua closed highway, which runs from Kedah to Penang. It had previously been pilot tested there since July 2020.

Plus managing director Datuk Azman Ismail said the system uses high-resolution cameras at both entry and exit lanes to recognise the passing vehicles’ number plates and works with its Toll Validation Centre (TVC) to seamlessly process customers’ payments.

He also projected RFID usage at the Hutan Kampung-Sungai Dua stretch, currently the highest among all closed toll highways in Malaysia, will increase up to 30% in the next few months following the lifting of inter-state travel restrictions.

The toll expressway operator was also working with the Works Ministry, the Malaysian Highway Authority and Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd to expand RFID toll payments at all its highways from Juru, Penang to Skudai, Johor by early 2022.

The new tech was part of an effort to create a barrier-less, multi-lane free flow (MLFF) highway, where drivers make contactless payment by driving under gantries equipped with scanners, rather than through toll plazas with barriers.

This is similar to Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing system that also uses gantries to detect and charge road users passing through, which works at speeds from 20-30km/h on arterial roads and 45-65km/h on expressways.