Toll plazas at Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (Akleh), Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) and Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway (DUKE) highways, will be the first in Kuala Lumpur to have a fully electronic toll collection (ETC) system.
They will also be joined by those in Jitra, Bukit Kayu Hitam, and Lunas in Kedah, Kubang Semang and Penang Bridge in Penang, and Gombak and Bentong at the KL-Karak highway.
In the city alone, having fully electronic toll collection is expected to help reduce traffic congestion by about 20% to 30%.
Motorist Izuwan Nor Wahid collecting several Touch ’n Go cards at the Penang Bridege toll plaza office. - Bernama
To encourage motorists to pay electronically, many concessionaires have been throwing in offers.
The AKLEH and DUKE concessionaires were offering a 5% rebate for Class One motorists (cars, vans and small trucks) for three months.
SmartTAG units would also be sold at a special price of RM99, from today until the stocks last,
AKLEH general manager Engku Mohd Fauzi Engku Hatim said: “We have 22 lanes in total and we have been switching the mixed mode lanes (cash and Touch ’n Go) to only Touch ’n Go lanes in stages.
“Rela officers will also assist highway patrol officers to control the traffic situation.
“We have also increase our support staff to promote the ETC and to sell Touch ’n Go cards,” he said.
He said a smooth transition was expected with electronic toll collection rising from 65% in January to 89% at present for the Datuk Keramat toll plaza.
Ekovest Berhad managing director Datuk Lim Keng Cheng said ETC penetration at DUKE reached 85.8% after they started publicising the conversion to the cashless system and the sale of Touch ’n Go cards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=lEkigEB4nvM
He said that their staff would also be on standby to assist motorists by selling RM5 Touch ’n Go cards.
PLUS Malaysia Bhd general manager (operations) Norbayati Manap said top up service and purchase of electronic access cards would be available 24 hours at the extreme left booth, as the final phase of the cashless system is imposed in the last five open toll booths in the northern region.
She said motorist can also top up their MyKad which have the Touch ’n Go features.
She said the implementation of the fully electronic payment system in the northern region today marks the completion of the cashless system in all the 14 open toll plazas nationwide.
Thousands of people made a last-minute dash to the Penang Bridge toll plaza sales office in Prai to buy Touch ’n Go cards before the implementation of the fully electronic system nationwide.
Office clerk Tan Lai Ghim, 42, said he took leave to get a PLUSMiles card.
“It’s troublesome having to wait for so long but hopefully the electronic system will help ease traffic congestion at the bridge,” she said.
Businessman Ismail Ghazafar, 56, from Kulim, had to wait for an hour before getting his PLUSMiles card and SmartTAG.
