18% toll cut is significant savings for PLUS clients

ALOR SETAR (Jan 21): North-South Expressway (PLUS) users especially those who travel long distance welcomed the government's move to reduce toll charges by 18 per cent, which is also helping them to reduce their expenditure.

In general, PLUS customers are happy with the move as they can save on transportation costs.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently announced that the government has decided against selling PLUS while its toll charges will be reduced by 18 per cent.

Food vendor Rozilawati Ahmad Refain, 48, said the 18 per cent reduction is a huge relief for her who frequently travels to Kuala Lumpur to visit her children studying there as the current toll charges from Hutan Kampung here to Jalan Duta is RM56.30 one way.

She could be saving almost RM11 one way and the money could be spent on other necessities.

“We can save about RM22 on a return trip, this is a big amount of money for us as we can use it for other things like food, saving or other necessities. I am thankful to the government for the 18 per cent saving,” she said.

A student from University Putra Malaysia (UPM) Mohd Nazrim Mustafa, 27, is also thrilled to be able to save almost RM12 one way on toll charges from UPM Serdang to his hometown Alor Setar once a month.

Mohd Nazrim said he could use the money on other expenses at the university.

“Usually I need to spend about RM70 (RM65.50) for one way toll, the 18 per cent discount will save me about RM12 (RM11.79) and it is a good thing,” he said.

A lorry driver Mohd Sufyan Tajudin, 32, said the toll reduction would allow him to save almost RM15 (RM14.94) one way while commuting from Alor Setar to Kuala Lumpur as his lorry is categorised as a class two vehicle.

He said that if he had to make a trip to Kuala Lumpur twice a week, he could save almost RM60 a week with an estimated savings of RM240 a month and RM2,880 for the year. The money he saves could be spent on his wedding next year.

“I am just a lorry driver, I welcome the toll discount as it could help with my transportation cost and I’ll be able to save about RM15 one way from Alor Setar to Kuala Lumpur via the Jalan Duta toll plaza.

“At the moment, I’m paying RM83 for one way. So I believe this is good news, the saving of almost RM15 for one way is a lot of money, I think it's a relief for us, lorry drivers,” he said.

Meanwhile, another PLUS user Mohd Ridzuan Abdullah, 44, said he commuted once a week from Alor Setar to Kamunting, Perak for work and will save about RM4 in toll charges after the rate reduced next month.

“Right now I am paying RM8.50 on the toll charges from Kamunting to Juru and RM11.40 from Juru to Alor Setar. After the 18 per cent discount, I’ll be saving almost RM4 one way, this is good for the people,” he explained.