CNY: Two million vehicles expected on highways
SHAH ALAM - Plus Malaysia Berhad (Plus) expects two million vehicles on the highways during the peak days of the Chinese New Year festivities.
Plus Chief Operations Officer Datuk Zakaria Ahmad Zabidi said traffic was expected to be at the highest on Jan 20, 21 and 24.
He said it represented a 20 per cent increase compared to the usual daily traffic.
"To ensure the increase in traffic for this festive season is managed, Plus has made early preparations other than planning several strategies to aid the public to enjoy a safer and more comfortable trip on the highway.
"The strategy covered the aspect of highway safety, traffic and congestion management, traffic distribution, user comfortability, toll traffic management, traffic updates and such.
“Our focus towards the festive day is the safety aspect on highways where a multitude of strategies were identified and implemented,” he said in a statement on Saturday.
Zakaria urged the cooperation of motorcyclists and heavy vehicle drivers to be more cautious and take precautionary measures to ensure their safety throughout the festive season.
He said motorcyclists contributed to roughly 64 per cent of overall fatal accidents on the Plus highway in 2022.
“Accidents involving heavy vehicles caused major congestions as it takes a long duration for it to be moved as well as needing heavy types of machinery such as cranes,” he said.
He said they are working together with the police and the Road Transport Department (RTD) to implement the enforcement of the laws during the festive seasons.
“The total number of highway patrols including Plus Ronda and East Coast Highway 2 (LPT2) will be increased to 265 teams to help highway users who experience vehicle damage or emergencies.
“Plus released the Trave Time Advisory (TTA) schedule for travels on the North-South Expressway and the LPT2 to aid people planning their journey back home or towards Klang Valley,” he explained.
He also said drivers were advised to use the same payment modes entering and exiting the highways.
“For example, users using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) when entering should exit through an RFID lane.
“This can avoid problems such as being stranded at the toll and affecting other users, other travellers should also ensure their e-wallet (for RFID users) and Touch n Go balances were sufficient for the trip,” he said.
He explained individuals were advised to use navigational applications such as Waze or Google Maps to plan their trips efficiently.
