KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — This coming Raya festive season, PLUS will be activating a total of 18 Smart Lanes to help ease traffic congestion.
That’s three more than the last Chinese New Year festive season and more than quadruple the number of Smart Lanes activated last year.
If you see people driving on the emergency lane, don’t be surprised as they could be utilising the designated Smart Lane.
What is PLUS Smart Lane?
Introduced as a trial on NKVE back in 2019, Smart Lane essentially opens up the emergency lane for traffic which aims to help ease traffic flow and reduce congestion. Over the years, the number of Smart Lanes has extended to more locations along the PLUS highway and it greatly helps to add more capacity, especially for stretches of highways with just two lanes.
Based on studies conducted by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), over 70 per cent of road users who have utilised the Smart Lanes agree that it is effective in reducing congestion. Besides contributing to smoother traffic flow and reducing travel time, there’s room for improvement to increase awareness of the Smart Lanes. During the last festive season, there were reports of ignorant road users taunting or damaging vehicles on the Smart Lane.
How to use the Smart Lane?
After receiving feedback, PLUS has made some changes to the Smart Lane system. A Smart Lane is indicated by big yellow signs which are placed throughout the designated area. There will be a BEGIN (Mula) and END (Tamat) sign before and after the Smart Lane, along with a reminder sign every 500 metres. PLUS has also added reminder signs 200 meters before and after the Smart Lane section.
For greater clarity on when the Smart Lanes are active, PLUS has also added blinking green lights every 1 kilometre to indicate that the Smart Lane is now active. Extra mobile electronic message signs are also deployed to inform users of the Smart Lane.
Here’s a video to demonstrate the usage of the smart lane:
Ha! Korang tahu tak apa itu SMART LANE? Pernah guna tak? Jom layan video ni untuk tahu apa itu SMART LANE dan tips penggunaan SMART LANE Kalau dah tahu, pastikan anda amalkan pemanduan berhemah seperti berikut:- Patuhi lorong secara konsisten dan elakkan kerap... pic.twitter.com/f7xauTzQd9
— PLUS Malaysia Berhad (@plus2u) February 9, 2024
Since the Smart Lanes are using existing emergency lanes, the lanes can get quite narrow. Therefore, it is important to look out for wide vehicles on the adjacent lane and look out for any possible stalled vehicles that may be parked due to an emergency. Smart Lanes are intended to be used during heavy traffic so if the roads are clear, it is best to use the other lanes.
Where and when can you use the Smart Lane on PLUS highway?
A total of 18 Smart Lanes will be activated between Johor Bahru and Sungai Petani. The active time and length of each Smart Lane varies depending on location and here’s the list of locations and schedule:
In case you missed it, you can check out the Smart Lane video by SoyaCincau BM below:
The government has also announced a toll-free initiative for Hari Raya which is applicable for Class 1 vehicles on the 8th (Monday) and 9th (Tuesday) April 2024. If you’re planning to go on a long-distance trip with an EV, you can check out our EV road trip guide. — SoyaCincau
