Effective Tuesday, the levy and toll rates at the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link will be reduced to encourage motorists to use this route, rather than the Johor Causeway which is facing traffic congestion.

In a statement today, the Prime Minister's Office said the levy reduction would involve commercial vehicles entering and leaving Malaysia and the toll reduction was for all vehicles except motorcycles during off-peak hours.

"The government has agreed to reduce the commercial vehicle levy to RM50 for vehicles entering and leaving Malaysia, down from the current rate of RM100 to RM200.

"In addition, the toll rate outside peak hours at Linkedua, between 10am and 3pm and 11pm and 5am, for all vehicles except motorcycles, will be reduced by between 47 percent and 82 percent according to the class of vehicles," it said.

According to the statement, the new rate after the reduction was RM4 from RM7.50 for private vehicles, taxis (RM3 from RM5.70) and buses (RM4.50 from RM9.10) while commercial vehicles (class two and three) from RM17.10 and RM34.30 to RM4.50 and RM6.10, which are the same at the causeway.

Congestion discussed at leaders' retreat

The congestion issue at the Johor Causeway was discussed during the recent Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat and the reduction was among the comprehensive measures to address the problem.

The levy and toll rates reduction is expected to reduce the number of commercial vehicles using the Johor Causeway by 40 percent.

The statement said another measure being taken by the government to overcome congestion problem was the implementation of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) project.

"The rail link between Bukit Chagar station in Johor Bahru and Woodlands North, Singapore, is expected to commence in 2024 and it will have a capacity of up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction. It is also expected to cut the travel time to 30 minutes compared to over an hour now.

"The Malaysian and Singapore governments have already submitted the offer letter to the company that will build and operate the RTS," it said.

In addition, it added that the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) would also increase the frequency of Shuttle Tebrau from 26 trips to 31 trips daily.

"This allows KTMB to transport 1,500 additional passengers crossing the Johor Causeway which currently stands at 7,783 per day. It would cut the travelling time to only five minutes from between 45 minutes and two hours by bus. It is a short-term measure before the four km RTS route is completed,” the statement said.

It said, with a reduction in the congestion, it will help increase the tourist arrivals.

Meanwhile, in order to improve the traffic management at the Causeway, the government had set up a high-level task force chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

- Bernama