Motorists who were travelling to Ayer Keroh along the North-South Highway yesterday would have experienced some delays in the afternoon due to the closure of exit lanes at the Ayer Keroh Toll Plaza. This was necessary because of an incident at 11:30 am involving a lorry carrying WRDA 96M (a chemical admixture used in construction work) which spilled the chemical as it turned a few metres before the toll plaza exit lane. Although no one was injured, the situation was considered hazardous and taking into account the safety of highway users and toll plaza staff, the Fire and Rescue Department ordered the exit lanes to be immediately closed to all vehicles. The closure was also to facilitate cleaning, evaluation and removal works to be done in a safe and controlled environment.
Throughout the closure period, information and messages on the incident were continuously disseminated through highway electronic message boards at strategic locations, the PLUSTrafik Twitter and other social media platforms. Highway users were advised to exit the PLUS highway through the Simpang Ampat (Alor Gajah) and Jasin toll plazas.
“The Fire and Rescue Department teams from Ayer Keroh, Alor Gajah and Tangga Batu as well as Hazmat and Propel were able to undertake immediate and smooth incident clearance works and it contributed to all exit lanes being re-opened to all at 3:50 pm,” said PLUS Chief Operating Officer, Zakaria Ahmad Zabidi. He applauded and thanked all agencies for their collaboration in controlling and containing the chemical spillage incident.
“PLUS would also like to thank all highway users for their cooperation and understanding throughout the whole event. They enabled us to carry out smooth and swift clearance works during the incident,” he added.
Development of the highway network in Malaysia began in the 1980s and with the announcement of each new highway project, there was the promise of ‘smooth, jam-free motoring’ between destinations. That was true for a while as the total vehicle population was still not very large. Furthermore, the number of townships and housing estates was also small, so there wasn’t a huge volume of traffic moving daily to the urban centres.
Today, a new highway seems to provide the ‘promise’ for a short while and then congestion starts. It gets worse and worse and sometimes, the highway concessionaire may try solutions like adding lanes. But it is often unsatisfactory, especially for those who pay toll.
The Smartlane initiative
PLUS Malaysia Berhad constantly looks for ways to reduce congestion on its highways and this October 23, it will try out a manual pilot SmartLane initiative to mitigate and evaluate the traffic congestion flow between the Setia Alam exit towards the Shah Alam Toll Plaza in Selangor.
After a period of observation and evaluation, PLUS plans to implement the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and establish an electronic SmartLane, similar to the ones presently applied in the United Kingdom and Holland.
The aim is to optimize the use of the left-most lane to enhance the flow of traffic with the aim of reducing congestion for highway customers who travel between Setia Alam to Shah Alam on the NKVE (New Klang Valley Expressway) during the morning rush hours.
Pilot sector covers 6 kms
This pilot implementation covers the NKVE stretch between Km 3.2 and Km 9.2 on the northbound side towards Petaling Jaya/Subang. It will be activated between 6:30 am and 9:30 am every Monday to Friday. During these morning peak hours, the left-most lane will be opened and used as a temporary additional lane to increase lane capacity and promote smoother traffic flow.
“Our studies have shown that the convergence of traffic as well as climbing areas contributed greatly to the congestion on the NKVE. The SmartLane pilot project is a proactive step towards providing our customers a smoother travel solution,” said PLUS Chief Operating Officer, Zakaria Ahmad Zabidi. The ITS SmartLane initiative is fully supported and endorsed by the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA), the Police (PDRM) and the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS).
He added that various preparations will be in place before the SmartLane starts. These include deploying Police and PLUSRonda officers on-site, installation of directional signages, assigning additional tow trucks at strategic locations and providing an emergency bay at Km 5.6.
“Based on PLUS’ record, 302,000 vehicles ply the NKVE daily, where 22% of them enter the highway simultaneously during the morning rush hour. However, with the implementation of the SmartLane, we expect to reduce the Setia Alam-Shah Alam peak hour crawl by 30% to 40%, barring any incidents such as accidents and vehicle breakdowns. Nevertheless, we have tow trucks on standby to address these incident” he explained.
Part of the 6-km stretch of the NKVE from the Setia Alam exit (picture at top of page) to the Shah Alam exit will have the Smartlane. This picture of the highways was taken on a Sunday but on weekdays, the volume of traffic is quite heavy with vehicles from Klang and Setia Alam heading towards Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur.
Implementation in two phases
The implementation of this SmartLane initiative will be carried out in two phases. Phase One will operate manually via road signs placed at the designated stretch. Phase Two, planned to start in the second quarter of 2020, will incorporate full-fledged ITS technology. The ITS system will enable PLUS to manage traffic enforcement and traffic distribution more efficiently. All systems will be managed and monitored through the PLUS Traffic Monitoring Centre at Persada PLUS.
“We do plan to expand the SmartLane initiative to other locations along PLUS highways in the future,” added Encik Zakaria. “In the meantime, we strongly advise highway users to always follow the traffic signages, adhere closely to the speed limit, give way to emergency vehicles and be extra careful when plying the highway.”
If motorists are responsible and considerate, they would ensure that their tollcards have sufficient value before they travel on highways where toll is collected. With so many places, especially petrol stations, where the Touch’nGo cards can be reloaded, there is no excuse for not doing so. However, PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) has found that many have insufficient balance in their tollcards, resulting in them having to reload at the toll plazas and causing traffic congestion at the exit lanes of the toll plazas.
To reduce traffic congestion on all outbound lanes in the Central Region toll plazas, PLUS made the decision to close the Reload Counters since August 1, 2019. This move, over the past 2 months, has seen a significant reduction of up to 48.2% in the number of low-traffic or inadequate balance customers trying to reload at the exit lanes at toll plazas in the Central Region which are located along routes between Seremban and Ipoh Selatan.
5% of motorists waste the time of 95%
On August 1, 2019, the first day, 5% of vehicles had insufficient balance for their tollcards. Although 5% is small, it involves 42,500 vehicles that queue up to reload, creating unnecessary congestion and wasting the time of 95% of other travellers on the highways.
The move to cease offering reload services at the toll plazas is also aimed at ensuring the safety of PLUS personnel as accidents involving heavy vehicles have occurred at toll booths in recent times.
“PLUS would like to thank the customers who have contributed to the 48.2% reduction in congestion at toll plazas in the Central Region by increasing their Touch’nGo card value. PLUS also appreciates the efforts of all Touch’nGo counters and service providers and counters and machines to ensure that Touch’nGo card or value-added kiosks are operating at all times to facilitate transactions,” the company’s statement said.
It added that this progressive initiative is also made possible with the strong support of the Malaysian Highway Authority, the regulator whose main aim is to ensure the safety and comfort of every Malaysian highway-user.
No more reload services in other regions soon
PLUS will continue to cease reload services at its toll plazas in the Southern and Northern Toll Plaza exit lanes soon.
Reload services are available at more than 10,000 locations nationwide such as ATMs, petrol stations, convenience stores, R&R areas and shopping malls.
