SMART Tunnel's Chief Operating Officer Mohd Fuad Kamal Ariffin attributed this to the increasing sales of the e-payment cards, including the Touch'n Go (TnG) and SmartTAG's.
He said promotions undertaken by highway concessionaires had boost the sales of the devices, especially among city dwellers.
"As of today, the percentage of our sales is encouraging and we are confident it will reach our target.
"With our current promotion activity on full ETC (electronic toll collection), we have witnessed a penetration of usage from 77 percent in January 2015 to 81 percent currently," he said here today.
Among the promotions undertaken by highway operators include giving out Touch 'n Go cards to users for a discounted price as low as RM5 besides offering a discount of 20 percent for SmartTag devices.
Effective noon this Sept 9, 12 toll plazas will go fully cashless, with all toll transactions to be conducted electronically via PLUSMiles cards, Touch 'n Go cards or SmartTAGs.
The toll plazas are the Jitra Toll Plaza, North-South Expressway (PLUS); Bukit Kayu Hitam Toll Plaza, PLUS; Lunas Toll Plaza, Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE); Kubang Semang Toll Plaza, BKE; Penang Bridge Toll Plaza and Gombak Toll Plaza, Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway (KLK).
Six more toll plazas are the Bentong Toll Plaza, KLK; Dato Keramat Toll Plaza, Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH); Ayer Panas Toll Plaza, Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (DUKE); Sentul Pasar Toll Plaza, DUKE; Batu Toll Plaza, DUKE; and the SMART Highway Toll Plaza.
Full 24-hour top-up lanes to sell Touch'n Go cards and SmartTAG with promotion prices that are affordable for road users and a toll rebate of five per cent would be offered to Class 1 motorists using the DUKE Expressway for three months, beginning Sept 9.
Meanwhile, Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur(KL) Sdn. Bhd (KESTURI) director Zakaria Shaffie said the concession holder of the DUKE Expressway had already sold 32,000 TnG Cards and 4,000 units of SmartTag On Board Unit (OBU).
He said the use of ETC would not only save time, but also make speedier transaction, more efficient traffic flow and is environment-friendly.
"As we have seen in toll plazas where full ETC has been implemented, definitely there will be resistance from certain quarters, but we feel that this is the right way forward to ensure efficiency in toll operations and for the benefit of toll users," he added.
The operator for Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH), Projek Lintasan Kota Sdn Bhd (Prolintas), said it had sold 7,377 TnG cards and 4,564 units of SmartTag and expected the number to increase further with their ongoing promotions and campaign.
