NEWS: Gantry system to collect toll

TAMPIN: Queues to pay toll could be a thing of the past as private expressway operators are required to implement the gantry toll collection system.

Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said the Malaysian Highway Authority was conducting trials of the system at various highways in the Klang Valley. The study should be completed by year’s end, he said.

“We want a system where motorists can pay toll while driving at 110kph and need not stop,” Shaziman told reporters after opening the Sepakat Bestari programme organised by the Information Department here yesterday.

Shaziman said the current method of collecting toll was outdated and inefficient.

“It can take up to 40 minutes for motorists to pay toll now and this is unacceptable,” he said.

“Motorists already have to contend with jammed roads in the city centre and it is not fair that they are made to queue up to pay toll.”

He said even the SmartTag system was not good enough as motorists had to slow down when approaching the toll plaza.

“Countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia have successfully installed systems where motorists would not even know that they had paid toll,” he added.

Shaziman said once the authority had completed its study, he would table a paper with the Cabinet for approval.

“If the Cabinet endorses it, then we will direct the concessionaires to install the system,” he said. If all goes well, the new system could be implemented early next year.

On the relocation of the Seremban toll plaza, Shaziman said the project was to have been carried out under the Ninth Malaysia Plan between 2006 and 2010 but had to be deferred.

“Since it involved a huge cost, we would try to get this done under the 10th Malaysia Plan,” he said, adding that the toll plaza had to be moved as the present site could not accommodate the heavy traffic.