KUALA LUMPUR: Police and Plus Berhad (PLUS) have activated two smartlane routes on the North-South Expressway (NSE) as a measure to address congestion, following the movement of vehicles back to the Klang Valley after the public holiday in conjunction with Aidilfitri.
Bukit Aman Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department (JSPT) director, Datuk Seri Mat Kasim Karim, said that the two routes, northbound, involved the Port Dickson interchange at KM259 to Seremban interchange (KM263) and Senai interchange (KM19) to Kulai interchange (KM27).
"The high volume of vehicles from the South, North and East towards the capital has resulted in congestion at some places, such as hilly areas, and where there is convergence from three to two lanes.
"JSPT officers are at hotspot locations along the highways, federal and state roads as well as city roads where there is congestion heading to the capital, including personnel and drone units are systematically arranged to ensure for smooth and controlled traffic flow," he said in a statement today (Apr 24).
The smartlane aims to optimise the use of all lanes, including opening the leftmost space as a temporary lane, to increase lane capacity and help smoothen the heavy flow of traffic.
Mat Kasim said that the public can relay information related to accidents or unusual congestion to the Bukit Aman traffic control room at 03-2266 3356, which operates 24 hours.
Meanwhile JSPT announced via a post on its Facebook page that there has been a total of 1,381 accidents, involving 2,072 vehicles of various types, on the fourth day of operations, codenamed Op Selamat 20, nationwide, yesterday (Apr 23).
Op Selamat 20 is being implemented for seven days, where it began on Apr 20 (last Thurs).
It said that cars recorded the highest number of accidents which was 1,528 or 73.7 per cent of the total cases recorded yesterday.
"It was followed by motorcycles (256), four-wheel drive vehicles (122), multi-purpose vehicles (102 cases), vans (43), lorries (13), buses (five), and three cases of accidents involving taxis," read the statement.
JSPT also advised road users to be vigilant while driving, so as to avoid from being involved in an accident. – BERNAMA