PLUS says to reinstate SmartTAG lanes after RFID toll jams

PLUS Malaysia Bhd (PLUS) has identified areas of improvement in response to the recent inconvenience of congestion during the initial implementation of the second public pilot Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) along the North-South Expressway (NSE) from Juru to Skudai on Jan 15.

PLUS in a statement said Works Minister Fadillah Yusof had raised his concerns about the public’s grouses regarding the initial RFID implementation and the removal of the SmartTAG lanes at certain toll plazas.

PLUS said it was committed to reinstating SmartTAG lanes, enhancing system performance, and deploying on-the-ground personnel at toll plazas as measures to improve its highway customer experience.

“We are going to reinstate 16 toll plazas with 19 Touch ‘n Go lanes as SmartTAG lanes by Jan 25, in anticipation of the Chinese New Year (CNY) travel exodus. Another 18 toll plazas will be doing the same post-CNY on Feb 19,” the statement said.

According to PLUS, quicker “double arm” lane barriers will be deployed at plazas with high traffic to ensure that traffic is managed and cleared quickly.

“Additionally, visual RFID detection zones will be painted on the lanes to help customers position their vehicles for optimum detection.

“PLUS has also assigned customer service assistants at all 158 RFID lanes across 74 toll plazas to assist customers who are stuck at the lanes using portable detection devices,” it said.

RFID has co-existed with the SmartTAG and Touch ‘n Go payment options in most open toll highway networks since 2018, serving over 1.5 million existing RFID customers.

On Jan 15, PLUS introduced it as an additional payment option on its interstate highway network.