No More Toll Hikes For These Highways In 2019

We've got some good news and bad news for you.

The good news is, there will be no toll hikes next year (for some highways)! But the bad news is that we still need to pay toll. Duh.

As some of you may know, quite a number of highways across Malaysia were due for a toll hike by next year.

However, it has been announced that all toll hikes for all vehicles along 21 highways will be frozen.

This comes up to nearly 40 tolls along those highways!

But wouldn't it be better if all tolls were abolished?

According to New Straits Times, this is in addition to the Budget 2019 announcement made on 2 November, which stated that the freezing would be applicable to intra-city tolls only.

Besides that, the toll hike for buses on eight highways will also be frozen, while motorcycle tolls on the Penang Bridge, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah Bridge and the Second Link in Johor will be abolished.

As a result of this comprehensive toll hike freeze, the government would reportedly incur a total cost of RM994.43mil.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng added that it will cost the government RM972.75mil in compensation payments to the relevant highway toll concessionaires next year.

Here are the 21 highways affected:

North-South Highway
Malaysia-Singapore Second Link Highway
Kesas Highway
North-South Expressway Central Link (ELITE Highway)
East Coast Highway Phase 1
Sungai Besi Highway (Besraya)
New Pantai Expressway (NPE)
Damansara-Puchong Expressway
Ampang-Kuala Lumpur Elevated Highway (Akleh)
Butterworth-Kulim Expressway
Duta-Ulu Klang Expressway
Maju Expressway (MEX)
Kajang–Seremban Highway (Lekas)
Senai-Desaru Expressway
Sprint Highway
South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE)
Seremban-Port Dickson Highway
New North Klang Straits Bypass (NNKSB)
Guthrie Corridor Expressway
Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah Bridge (JPP2)
Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART)

As for buses, a.k.a. Class 5 vehicles, tolls along these eight highways will be affected:

Cheras-Kajang Highway (Grand Saga)
Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway
Kemuning-Shah Alam Highway
Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR) Highway
Kajang Silk Highway
KL-Kuala Selangor Expressway
New Pantai Expressway
Sprint Highway

What do you think of this news? If you still don't want to pay toll, then just take the public transport.