KUALA LUMPUR: Traffic movement across the country is expected to surge ahead of the Christmas celebration this Wednesday due to the free tolls announced by the government and the school break that started yesterday.
According to the Malaysia Highway Authority (LLM), around 2.52 million road users were recorded on Dec 21 on the country's main highways, and the numbers are expected to rise to 2.55 million tomorrow or on Tuesday.
LLM traffic operations centre supervisor, Muhammad Aliff Syafiq Md Takiyuddin, said his team expects a surge in traffic movement from Kuala Lumpur starting tomorrow, and it will continue to increase due to the free tolls announced by the government starting tomorrow until Tuesday.
"Traffic is expected to increase again in the capital city next weekend, from Dec 28 to 29," Aliff said when contacted by the New Straits Times.
Meanwhile, Plus senior general manager of operations, Yusuf Abd Aziz, said Plus has anticipated the 'peak days' for traffic movement that started on Friday and would last until Dec 28, when traffic could increase to 2.1 million vehicles per day.
As of 3.30pm on Sunday, traffic on the majority of the main highways across the country was recorded to be smooth.
However, in several parts of the country, particularly in the northern, central, and southern regions, there was slow movement of traffic due to a high number of users, bad weather, or accidents.
In the northern region heading south, the Penang Bridge from Perai to the middle of the bridge, and the Plus expressway D1 north direction from Bandar Baharu to Jawi, recorded slow traffic due to increased road users.
Meanwhile, from Tapah to Gopeng, slow traffic was recorded due to a broken lorry which blocked the left lane of the expressway.
For traffic heading south in the same region, slow traffic was recorded from Sungai Petani Selatan to Bertam, Permatang Pauh to Perai, Juru Auto City to Juru Toll Plaza, Bandar Cassia to Bukit Tambun Selatan, Kuala Kangsar to Meru Tunnel, and Sungkai to Slim River, all due to increased road users.
In the central and southern regions, traffic heading north was slow from Senawang to Seremban, and from Simpang Ampat to Pedas Linggi before the R&R Jejantas Ayer Keroh.
In the same regions, heading south, slow traffic was detected from Seremban to Senawang due to the high number of road users, while from Yong Peng Selatan to Machap, heavy traffic was recorded due to an accident involving a trailer truck.
In traffic heading towards the western part of the peninsula, heavy traffic was detected at the R&R Gombak West area to the Plaza Tol Gombak.
LLM has advised road users to maintain safety while driving, not to misuse the emergency lane, and to only use the smart lane as per instructions.
Besides, road users were also advised to plan their journey by referring to the LLM and highway operators' social media and websites.