Cashless toll system for 21 highways in Klang Valley by year-end

All 21 highways in the Klang Valley will implement the fully electronic toll payment system by the end of the year, doing away with manual toll collections. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, January 5, 2016.

All 21 highways in the Klang Valley will implement the fully electronic toll payment system by the end of this year, said Association of Highway Concessionaires Malaysia (PSKLM) president Datuk Zainudin A. Kadir.

He said the move was to encourage the use of the electronic toll system which was more convenient, comfortable and helped users enjoy a smooth ride at any toll plaza.

"On average, the manual toll collection is 360 transactions per hour, compared to 1,000 transactions using the Smart Tag, and over 700 transactions using Touch n Go," he told a media briefing at the Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya Expressway (MEX) headquarters today.

He said highway concessionaires would bear the cost of RM150,000 per lane, including the cost of works to configure the system.

Zainuddin said the implementation of a fully electronic toll payment system would not cause layoffs of toll attendants, as they would be redeployed to other divisions including customer service, checking the system and monitoring the toll plazas.

He said there were about 3,500 toll attendants nationwide, and that the new system would be implemented in stages.

Malaysia began to implement the electronic toll payment system at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar on the PLUS Highway on December 16, 2008, followed by several other toll plazas at the Second Link Expressway and PLUS highways, he said.

The Mambau and Lukut toll plazas along the Seremban-Port Dickson Highway implemented the electronic toll payment system on June 1 last year, followed by seven other highways comprising 12 toll plazas on September 9.

Zainuddin said 10 toll plazas on four highways – MEX, the New Pantai Expressway (NPE), Cheras-Kajang Highway (Grand Saga) and Kemuning-Shah Alam Expressway (LKSA) – would implement the fully electronic toll payment system at midnight on January 13.

The toll plazas comprise three on MEX (the Salak Selatan Toll Plaza, Putrajaya Toll Plaza and Seri Kembangan Toll Plaza), three toll plazas along the NPE (PJS2, PJS5, and Pantai Dalam), two toll plazas on Grand Saga (Batu 9 and Batu 11) and two on LKSA (Seri Muda and Alam Impian).

Zainuddin said the highway concessionaires involved would offer various incentives to consumers, including the distribution of 140,000 free Touch n Go cards, where users would only have to pay for a RM5 reload to receive the card.

There is also an offer for a new Smart Tag at RM99, if purchased with a reload of RM20, and a 10% rebate for Class 1 vehicles from January 13 to March 12 this year.

When asked if the government was considering ending the highway concessions, Zainuddin replied, "So far, no." – Bernama