Toll rebates during Lunar New Year
PETALING JAYA: North-South Expressway and Elite Highway Class 1 vehicles using the electronic toll payment system will enjoy a 50% rebate if they pay their tolls between 12am and 6am on Jan 27 and 30, and Feb 3 and 4.
Plus Malaysia Berhad managing director Datuk Azman Ismail said this was part of their strategy to distribute traffic and help the public enjoy smoother journeys in the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays.
"We want to distribute traffic which is usually high during the day, and to encourage more users to travel at night during the peak days," he said during a press conference here, today.
Users can, for example, leave Kuala Lumpur around 9pm and arrive in Kedah around 2am on one of the designated dates (i.e. Jan 27) to enjoy the rebate.
Azman, however, explained that users are still required to pay the normal toll rates before the rebate is credited into their electronic cards (in a form of toll reloads) when they top-up their cards at Plus customer service centres between Feb 15 and May 14.
The rebate will also not be applicable for toll transactions at the Penang Bridge, Tanjung Kupang, Bukit Kayu Hitam and Sultan Iskandar Building toll plazas.
For night drivers, Azman said all ravines will be well lit, cat eye reflectors will be on, and food stalls will operate at late hours.
Aside from the rebate, Azman said Plus will encourage users to adhere to its travel time advisory (TTA) to help distribute traffic on the mainline from Jan 26 to Feb 5.
"Those planning to travel back to their hometowns in Perlis, Kedah, Penang, North Perak and Johor are advised to enter the highway before 12pm while those heading towards nearer destinations such as Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca, and South and Central Perak, after 2pm.
"This will allow vehicles travelling to further destinations to exit the highway before vehicles heading towards nearer destinations start entering the mainline," he added.
Other strategies to ensure smoother journey include:
- assigning 2,130 staff at 1,130 toll booths to facilitate smoother transactions;
- adding more PLUSRonda teams from 322 presently to 339;
- assigning 1,500 maintenance staff at rest areas, lay-bys and the mainline;
- additional parking areas at 18 locations;
- contra-flow at critical stretches; and
- halting any maintenance works on highways