ALOR STAR, Aug 5 — Five PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) toll plazas in Kedah and Penang will implement full electronic toll collection (ETC), beginning Sept 9.

PLUS chief operating officer Mohammad Fuad Khusairi said the five toll plazas were Jitra and Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah, as well as the Penang Bridge, Kubang Semang and Lunas in Penang.

He said the public could obtain the Touch ‘n Go card at a promotional price of RM5, and the SMARTAG at RM96 at plaza tolls until Sept 30.

“The implemention of ETC will reduce congestion at the affected toll plazas.

For those without Touch ‘n Go cards, we will open a counter on the left to enable the people to obtain the card.

“Foreign tourists, especially from Thailand also need to obtain the card. We will advertise and channel the information to Thais entering the country,” he told a brifeing on the implementation of ETC here today.

Mohammad Fuad said PLUS would implement the ETC system at other closed toll plazas in future to ensure smoother flow of traffic on PLUS highways.

He also expected traffic congestion at the Bukit Kayu Hitam toll plaza to ease when the toll plaza was separated from the Immigration, Customs and Quarantine Complex (ICQ) in Bukit Kayu Hitam.

“We hope the new toll plaza at Bukit Kayu Hitam will start operating from its new premises in March next year,” he said. — Bernama