M'sia to roll out barrier-free toll system that looks a lot like ERP on major highways from 2027

Malaysia is looking to introduce a barrier-free toll system on its major highways, in an effort to ease traffic congestion issues, The Straits Times reported.

The system will employ a multi-lane free flow (MLFF) system, which allows for multiple vehicles to pay for tolls under an open payment system at the same time.

This is similar to Singapore's Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system, and motorists will be charged on credit and debit cards without needing to stop, tap a card or slow down.

Trials

Proof-of-concept trials are currently being carried out along the Kemuning–Shah Alam Expressway, according to Malay Mail.

The ongoing project, a collaboration between Malaysia's Works Ministry, Touch 'n Go and CIMB Bank, has seen the installation of gantries and other supporting infrastructure at the Alam Impian toll plaza in Selangor.

Another set of targeted public trials of an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system, conducted by Plus Malaysia, the country's largest highway operator company, will also begin in mid-August along the major North-South Expressway, ST said.

If the pilots are successful, the barrier-free toll system could be rolled out to the rest of Malaysia by 2027, the Works Ministry said.

Reduced congestion

Currently, motorists passing through toll booths in Malaysia need to stick their hands out their windows to tap a physical card against a scanner.

The new implementation will use e-payment technology to allow vehicles to pass through toll systems seamlessly.

ANPR cameras installed at toll plazas will capture vehicle number plates as they pass through, and charge a linked bank account according to a centralised database, a source told ST.

The upgrade is projected to significantly reduce congestion along highways and border checkpoints, which sees more than four million Singaporeans passing through each year.

The system is even predicted to work up to four times faster than SmartTAGs and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags which some motorists, including drivers of Singaporean vehicles, use, the source said.

While both tags currently require motorists to slow down near toll systems, the new model will not require the same, they added.

No cost to government

Malaysia's Deputy Minister of Works Ahmad Maslan said the MLFF toll system will employ a direct business-to-business (B2B) model, and private service providers will be able to negotiate directly with the 33 existing highway concessionaries.

This means that there will be no financial cost on the government, Malay Mail said.

The minister was addressing recent concerns of a staggering RM3.46 billion (S$1.06 billion) cost to the government on the project.

"The previously mentioned RM3.46 billion cost will not materialise, as the government has decided to implement the MLFF system through a B2B model," he said.

The barrierless toll system is a long-standing project of the Malaysian government, originally announced to be fully implemented by the third quarter of 2024.

It was later delayed, however, as the government's attempt late last year was thwarted by their failure to secure buy-ins from some toll operators.

Top image from Google Maps.