Ahead of the upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY) festivities on Jan 22 and 23, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced there will be toll-free travel for highway users.
According to several English news dailies, no toll charges will be imposed from Jan 20 to 21, following a recent agreement between Transport and Works ministers and concessioners.
Although there was no mention of the time the toll-free period will commence, it can be assumed that it will take effect at 12.01am on Jan 20 and end at 11.59pm on Jan 21.
Hence, those entering the tolled highway at 12.01am on Jan 20 but exiting at 12.00am on Jan 22 will incur a charge.
If faced with such a situation, travellers can take the nearest exit to enjoy what’s left of the toll-free experience for at least part of the journey.
All types of vehicles will be able to enjoy the toll-free period which will cost the government some RM40mil.
The prime minister explained that implementing this is to help all Malaysians returning to their hometowns enjoy and participate in the upcoming CNY festivities.
Meanwhile, the prime minister took the opportunity to reiterate that safety must always be exercised whenever on the road and to abide by all traffic laws to help “avoid adding to the number of accidents which tends to increase every time we have a festive season.”
Highway users will still require a Touch n’ Go (TnG) card, SmartTag or RFID tag to enter and exit tolled highways and must ensure to exit with the same method at entry – enter by RFID, exit by RFID.
To ensure a trouble-free experience, now will be the ideal time to ensure that TnG cards are not considered “dormant” or “expired”. Such cards will be denied entry, as per usual.
TnG card users are able to check the validity of their card(s) by adding them to the TnG eWallet app (available for free on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store) or online by logging on to TnG’s online portal.
Lastly don’t forget that speed limits on federal and state roads have been reduced by 10kph from now until Jan 27.