The new toll rate at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex, Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Johor Baru (BSI) is minimal, said Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) director-general Ismail Md Salleh.

He said the low-income group would not be burdened because the 95,000 daily users on motorcycles were not charged the toll at the CIQ.

In addition, he said about 180,000 vehicles using the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) which did not pass through the CIQ-BSI were also not charged.

He said that under the new toll rate, public transportation cost for taxis only increased by RM37.40 per month for each passenger while the bus transportation cost increased by RM6 per month per passenger.

“With the EDL, (there is) substantial reduction in traffic (in Johor Baru), and a lot of new development around the area (EDL),” he said at a special briefing with the top management of the mass media and chief editors at the Public Works Complex in Kuala Lumpur today.

The new toll rate effective on Aug 1 involved Class 1 up to Class 5 vehicles for both direction going into and out of the complex, with those entering Malaysia paying RM9.70; RM14.70; RM19.70, RM4.80 and RM7.80 while the toll rates for going out are RM6.80; RM10.20; RM13.60; RM3.40 and RM5.50.

Correcting negative perception

The briefing aimed to correct the negative perception and misunderstanding of the various groups on the new toll rate. The EDL privatisation project involved a total cost of RM1.262 billion and MRCB Lingkaran Selatan Sdn Bhd was given a 34-year concession.

According to Ismail, users who did not pass through the CIQ-BSI were not affected by the toll increase and a majority of the low-income group used public transport namely the buses and motorcycles to Singapore.

Ismail said it was estimated 60,000 (2013 annual average estimate) vehicles (both ways) used the CIQ-BSI daily and out of this, only 8,000 vehicles (14 percent) were registered in Malaysia while the remaining 52,000 vehicles were registered in Singapore.

He said that with the EDL, traffic congestion in Johor Baru city especially Jalan Tebrau was reduced by 50 percent, Jalan Bakar Batu (40 percent), inner ring road (between Jalan Tebrau and Jalan Pasir Pelangi) by 50 percent, Jalan Pasir Pelangi (30 percent), Jalan Skudai (10 percent) and Jalan Tun Razak, 10 percent.

He said that if the toll plaza was located along the main route, it would cause congestion in Johor Baru and the surrounding areas and the cost would be higher, while users would have to stop twice.

Ismail said an analysis showed that under the new toll rate, transport cost for cars increased to RM299.20 per month, small lorries RM448.80 per month while big lorries to RM598.40 per month.

Under the old rate since January 2011, the respective rates for Class 1 to 5 vehicles were RM2.90; RM4.50, RM6.10, RM1.40 and RM2.30.

He said the new toll rate was implemented after a two-year study by the government and collection had been postponed to enable the government to study a proposal for acquisition which the government did not proceed with as it involved a cost of RM2.13 billion which eventually involved public funds.

Rationale for new toll rate

Ismail said the rationale for the new toll rate was to pay for the cost of construction, operation, EDL maintenance, pay for the cost of maintaining and operating the Johor Causeway and the cost of maintaining the facilities to operate the CIQ-BSI operations.

He said the government was also discussing with the concession company to create consumer incentives in the form of ‘loyalty programmes’ to ease their burden.

Meanwhile, MRCB Group chief operating officer Imran Salim said: “We are doing a full detailed study on what type of vehicles... the frequency (of using the toll) to really understand which group is truly affected (by the new toll rate).”

- Bernama