In Local News / By Anthony Lim / 16 July 2019 5:33 pm / 38 comments

The Malaysian Association of Highway Concession Companies (MAHCC) says that all highways across the country will make the transition to a multi-lane free flow system in the next three years when radio-frequency identification (RFID) electronic toll collection is implemented at all toll plazas nationwide.

The association’s president, Datuk Azman Ismail, who is also the MD of PLUS, said the timeframe was workable, as Bernama reports.

“I am confident we can (achieve it within three years). It is not something that we just started, it is work in progress. If you ask some of the concessionaires, most of the equipment is already installed at the lanes, at the pilot stage,” he said.

“We certainly would like to understand more about what other technical issues we face at the pilot stage so that we can resolve (them) and get it launched and implemented as soon as possible. But we obviously cannot do this alone because the highways in Malaysia are so integrated,” he added.

Azman said that because highways in Malaysia integrated with one another, the experience for a user has to be seamless. “As a road user, if you use one highway to get from one location to another, you will probably be using multiple highways before you get to your destination. (So) it has to be seamless. Issues faced must be resolved, not just for one highway but for all highways. That is the beauty about the highway network in Malaysia. We must work together,” he said.

Works minister Baru Bian had earlier said that RFID would be completely up and running in the next couple of years, paving the way for a gateless gantry system to take over from the existing boom gate and toll plaza system.