Malaysia will not abolish highway tolls in the future, said works minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof in response to a question by Sabak Bernam MP Datuk Mohd Fasiah Mohd Fakeh.
This is because the government could not afford to do so, as it would need to pay an excessive amount to highway concessionaires in order to for them to do away with toll fare collection, The Edge Markets reported. “We are currently negotiating to find a win-win solution that will not burden the people and the government in terms of our financial position,” the works minister said.
Where electronic toll collection methods are concerned, the RFID method has been a hot topic among Malaysian highway users, as the initial RFID rollout along the North-South Expressway from Juru to Skudai on January 15 has been troubled by congestion.
The price of the RFID self-fitment kit, which retails at RM35 per piece, has also been a sticky subject; the works minister said that the government has asked that Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd review the costs of the RFID stickers for the purposed of reducing the price, following a Facebook post by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak saying that the passive tags cost less than RM1 to produce.
In January, the government demanded a detailed report from PLUS as well as Touch ‘n Go for justification. Yesterday, the government has urged Touch ‘n Go to reduce the price of the RFID self-fitment kit.
On the subject of cost, the ERP system used in Singapore is commonly cited as a comparison; the works minister said that the government decided against using such a system as it would be prohibitively expensive for Malaysian consumers.
A key difference between the ERP setup in Singapore and the system in Malaysia, both using RFID technology, is that the Singapore setup uses an active transponder, the in-vehicle unit (IU). This is powered by the car’s electrical supply for better detection, though it costs S$155.80 (RM480) each, compared to the RM35 for each RFID self-fitment kit in Malaysia.
Works minister Fadillah reiterated that radio frequency identification (RFID) toll collection is superior to the infrared technology used by SmartTAG, and is in line with the government’s aim of introducing the MLFF (multi-lane free flow) system that is expected to be fully implemented by 2025.
The proof-of-concept will be run on the Besraya Highway early this year, and the trial operation will be installed at KM5.5 northbound on the highway.
Source: Read Full Article