PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) has started a pilot open toll payment system using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), allowing registered users to use any toll lane across a section of the North-South Expressway.
The trial runs on the Hutan Kampung–Sungai Dua corridor and is seen as an initial move towards a wider Multi Lane Free Flow (MLFF) model for Malaysian highways, PLUS said in a statement today.
Under the first phase, drivers who sign up are no longer restricted to dedicated payment lanes.
Instead, they can enter and exit through any lane at nine toll plazas: Hutan Kampung, Alor Setar Utara, Alor Setar Selatan, Pendang, Gurun, Sungai Petani Utara, Sungai Petani Selatan, Bertam and Sungai Dua.
PLUS said the phase covers 87.7km and should help smooth toll-plaza traffic while lowering the risk of last-second lane swapping, which could lead to minor crashes and congestion.
The system relies on ANPR cameras installed at plazas to read number plates and automatically process toll charges via the JustGO Malaysia mobile app.
Users register their vehicle in the app, link a preferred payment method such as a debit or credit card, then drive through as usual, the company said.
PLUS added the platform is supported by AI and machine learning and is designed to work across varying conditions, including bad weather, different vehicle speeds and challenging angles, as well as some non-standard plates. It said accuracy is expected to improve over time.
For now, toll barriers remain in place. PLUS advised users to keep their speed between 20–25kph when passing through participating plazas without stopping.
Touch ’n Go, SmartTAG and RFID payments continue to operate as normal during the pilot.
