PUTRAJAYA, Feb 26 — The government announced today that it planned to acquire four highways in the Klang Valley — LDP, Sprint, Kesas, and Smart — within six months.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the government’s acquisition of the highways, upon which the toll mechanism will be replaced with a congestion charge, would save taxpayers from having to pay RM5.3 billion in compensation to concessionaires if toll rate hikes were to be frozen instead.
Commuters are also estimated to save RM180 million per annum with reduced traffic congestion during peak hours.
“The proposed acquisition of these highways is a win-win-win solution for all involved,” Lim told a press conference here without taking questions.
Lim said the four highways, of which Gamuda Berhad has a majority stake, had a market share of about 48 per cent based on the toll revenue collected.
“This represents a significant share of the intra-city highways and indicates the government’s seriousness and commitment to the first steps in fulfilling our election manifesto,” said the DAP minister.
He said the new “congestion charge” model would follow a variable pricing structure depending on the time of the day, but did not elaborate further.
“This new model will help to ease traffic congestion during peak periods by encouraging commuters to plan and shift their commute to less congested hours. In doing so, even those travelling during peak hours will enjoy reduced traffic congestion compared to that faced today,” said Lim.
The Prime Minister’s Office said last Saturday that the congestion charge was the same as current toll rates for a peak period of six hours daily. Use of the four highways will be free during “off peak hours” between 11pm and 5am, while using the highways outside of the peak period and “off peak hours” will be subject to a fee that is 30 per cent lower than current toll rates.
Lim said today that any surplus collection would go towards financing the upgrade and maintenance of the public transport system.
“The government expects the acquisition of the four highways will take up to six months to fulfill legal, regulatory and financial requirements.”
