DUKE joins open payment system, becomes Malaysia’s 2nd MLFF pilot location after Sungai Besi Highway

The Works Ministry has announced that the Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway (DUKE) will become the 12th highway concessionaire set to implement the open payment system. This comes less than a month after minister Alexander Nanta Linggi confirmed the initiative would be implemented in September this year.

With this, DUKE joins 11 other highways that have already signed on for the open payment system, including:

• Sungai Besi Expressway (Besraya)
• New Pantai Expressway (NPE)
• Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (AKLEH)
• Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE)
• Penang Bridge
• Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (BKE)
• Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP)
• Sprint Expressway
• Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas)
• Smart Tunnel
• Maju Expressway (MEX)

The open payment system allows highway users to pay using their credit or debit card, effectively ending Touch ‘n Go’s monopoly on the Malaysian toll network. Nanta said the initiative, which will involve the installation of credit and debit card terminals at one lane of each toll plaza, will be implemented in stages as it requires careful planning and appropriate use of technologies. The system is said to be a stepping stone towards the implementation of the much-vaunted barrier-less Multi-Lane Fast Flow (MLFF) system.

Speaking of which, the ministry also announced that DUKE will be the second highway in Malaysia to implement a proof of concept for the MLFF system, after Besraya. This system, which essentially apes Singapore’s successful Electronic Road Payment (ERP) scheme, will allow road users to freely drive through gantries that will collect toll fees electronically, without having to stop or slow down.

The ministry reiterated its timeline of MLFF’s full introduction, which will happen in the third quarter of 2024 at the latest. The long lead time between the pilot programme and the full-scale implementation is said to give the government, concessionaires and other parties enough time to identify and weed out any issues.

Last month, it was revealed in Parliament that the Works Ministry was allocating RM3.46 billion to implement MLFF. As highlighted previously, there are several things that need to be addressed before physical toll barriers can be removed which include legal framework and effective enforcement. 

It is worth highlighting that Green Packet announced in 2021 that it would conduct an MLFF POC with Taiwan’s FETC International Co on Besraya KM5.5 (Northbound) for a three-month period in early 2022. There were no further updates on the MLFF POC. 

Related reading

• Works Minister: Sungai Besi Expressway is Malaysia’s first MLFF POC location, 11 highways to support Open Payment System
• Works Minister explains why open payment system for highway tolling is taking so long
• Works Minister says MLFF is now known as Multi-Lane-FAST-Flow and here’s why
• Works Minister: Extra 12 RFID lanes added to PLUS toll plazas ahead of schedule
• Credit and Debit card support and MLFF for highway tolls: 3 big questions

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