BATU KAWAN: Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB), the concessionaire of the Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Bridge (JSAHMS), expects traffic to increase with the reduction of the toll charge from RM8.50 to RM7 for private vehicles, beginning today.
Prior to the toll reduction, the bridge’s traffic recorded a 32 per cent annual increase.
“We expect traffic to increase even more after this, with the toll being reduced by RM1.50 for each car.
“What is important is that the people reap benefit from the move,” JKSB board of director member Datuk Seri Farizan Darus said.
He said that traffic at the bridge was at 3.4 million when it was first opened in 2014, 4.8 million (2015), 6.1 million (2016), 8.1 million (2017), 9.8 million (2018) and 9.5 million for the first 11 months of this year.
“Based on past experience, the traffic volume is usually high in November and December.
“So, we can expect the figure to further increase for the last two months of this year,” he added.
Farizan expects that with the toll standardisation, congestion at the first Penang Bridge will be further reduced.
“Users from Seberang Prai Selatan and Seberang Prai Tengah can now travel
on (JSAHMS) instead,” he added.
The reduction is part of a nationwide standardisation of toll charges for Class 1 private vehicles, in line with the announcement made by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng during the tabling of Budget 2020 on Oct 11.