PETALING JAYA, Oct 16 — PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) launches a manual pilot SmartLane initiative between Setia Alam and Shah Alam Toll plaza on the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) effective October 23.
The move was initiated to address the traffic congestion issues during rush hour, the highway concessionaire said in a statement today.
“After a period of observation and evaluation, PLUS plans to implement the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and establish an electronic SmartLane, similar to the ones presently applied in the United Kingdom and Holland.
“The aim is to optimize the use of the left-most lane to enhance the flow of traffic to reduce congestion for highway customers who travel between Setia Alam to Shah Alam on the NKVE during the morning rush hours,” the statement read.
The SmartLane will cover the NKVE stretch between KM3.2 and KM9.2 (Northbound) and is activated between 6.30am until 9.30am every Mondays to Fridays.
PLUS said the left-most lane of the expressway would be opened during morning peak hours and used as a temporary additional lane to increase lane capacity and promote smoother traffic flow.
“Our studies have shown that the convergence of traffic, as well as climbing areas, contributed greatly to the congestion on the NKVE. The SmartLane pilot project is a proactive step towards providing our customers with a smoother travel solution,” said PLUS chief operating officer Zakaria Ahmad Zabidi.
Zakaria said several preparations have been made, which includes deploying police and PLUSRonda officers on-site, installation of directional signages, assigning additional tow trucks at strategic locations and providing an emergency bay at KM5.6.
“Based on PLUS’ record, 302,000 vehicles ply the NKVE daily, where 22 per cent of them enters the highway simultaneously during the morning rush hour.
“However, with the implementation of the SmartLane, we expect to reduce the Setia Alam-Shah Alam peak-hour crawl by 30 per cent to 40 per cent, barring any incidences such as accidents and vehicle breakdowns. Nevertheless, we have tow trucks on standby to address these incidences” Zakaria was quoted in the statement.
There will be two phases carried out on the implementation of the SmartLane, where the first phase will operate manually using road signs placed at the designated stretch.
The second phase, which is targeted for the second quarter of 2020, will incorporate full-fledged ITS technology, which will enable PLUS to manage traffic enforcement and traffic distribution more efficiently.
PLUS said all systems will be managed and monitored through the PLUS Traffic Monitoring Centre at Persada PLUS.
“We do plan to expand the SmartLane initiative at other locations along the PLUS highway in the future.
“In the meantime, we strongly advise our customers to always follow the traffic signages, adhere closely to the speed limit, give way to emergency vehicles and be extra careful when plying the highway,” he said.
This ITS SmartLane initiative is fully supported and endorsed by the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA), the police and the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS).
