Press Digest - Road charge woes for motorists

PETALING JAYA: The RM20 road charge (RC) to be imposed on each foreign-registered vehicle entering Malaysia via Johor from Nov 1 has raised concern not only among Singaporeans but also Malaysians who have to make frequent trips across the Causeway.
According to a report in Oriental Daily News today, this is because many Malaysians who drive to work in Singapore daily, for various reasons, use Singapore-registered cars. The RC will be a burden to these people.
Those who drive Malaysian-registered cars to work in Singapore daily are also worried as the talk is that Singapore is going to react to the RC by increasing the tolls on Malaysian vehicles entering the republic.
Those who commute from Johor to Singapore daily to work, too, are worried that more people will switch to make their trips to the republic and back by public transport, and vie with them for space especially on buses.
Malaysian Wei Jia Jun, 35, who stays with her husband and children in Singapore, said the new levy will increase their burden.
She said currently, she is already paying an equivalent of RM40 in levy on each trip back to Malaysia.
Wei said she bought a Singapore-registered car due to her work and children, who are studying in the republic.
"Nevertheless, I will not cut down on the number of my trips to Malaysia because of the RC. After all, we love Malaysia and most of our friends and relatives are in Johor," she said.
Meanwhile, Johor Road Transport Department director Mohd Rusli Mohd Darus said the department has conducted several dry runs of its RC collection system and is confident that everything will go well on Nov 1 when it is put into use.
"The dry runs have shown that the system will not cause any traffic congestion, as road users will pay by the Touch 'n and Go card,"