GEORGE TOWN, March 31 ― Malaysia’s highway authority should set the same toll rate for both Penang bridges for the first three years to encourage equal use by motorists and ease congestion on the first road link, the northern state’s Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said today.
He warned that motorists may shun the Second Penang Bridge, which will cost RM8 from tomorrow, in favour of paying RM1.50 less to use the first bridge to cross from the mainland to the island.
Lim said motorists would not use the second bridge due to the higher toll rate, the lack of 20 per cent discount for Penangites and traffic congestion at the landing point of the bridge in Batu Maung on the island.
“When the access roads are completed, motorists will not mind paying more provided they can have a smooth ride without traffic congestion,” he said.
The Bagan MP said the existing roads in Batu Maung on the island after the second bridge were currently too narrow and choked with traffic and that works to widen them would only be completed in three years.
Lim also pointed out that at 24km, the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah (SAHMS) bridge is nearly double the length of the first Penang bridge, which he claimed would incur higher fuel costs.
He also noted there were no perks for the second bridge, unlike at the first bridge which sells a special payment card to regular users.
The Malaysian Highway Authority announced yesterday the toll rate for the second bridge is RM1.70 for motorcycle (Class 0); RM8.50 for cars except taxis and buses (Class 1), RM30.50 for two-axle and six-wheeled vehicles except buses (Class 2), RM70.10 for three-axle or more vehicles except buses (Class 3), RM8.50 for taxis (Class 4) and RM26.20 for buses (Class 5).
In comparison, the toll rate for the first bridge is RM1.40 for motorcycles, RM7 for cars except taxis and buses, RM12 for lorries and vans with two axles and four wheels, RM6 for buses with two axles and four wheels, RM25 for lorries, vans and buses with two axles and five or six wheels, RM12.50 for buses with two axles and five or six wheels, RM45 for vehicles with three axles, RM22.50 for buses with three axles, RM60 for vehicles with four axles and RM75 for vehicles with five and more axles.
The RM4.5 billion new bridge was opened to traffic on March 1 but has been toll-free for a month.
Starting 6am tomorrow, motorists using the bridge to travel from Batu Kawan on the mainland to Batu Maung on the island will have to pay toll.
Like the first bridge, the toll rate is for one way only as motorists crossing from the island to the mainland (Batu Kawan only) do not have to pay toll but if they exit through the Bandar Cassia toll plaza to head towards PLUS North-South Expressway, they will have to pay toll of RM0.60 for cars.
It will take motorists about 20 minutes to travel between the island and the mainland on the second bridge as compared to 11 minutes on the first bridge.
The Southeast Asia’s longest bridge is supposed to relieve congestion on the first bridge by about 25 per cent with projections of between 80,000 and 100,000 vehicles using it daily.
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