Here are the best travel times to avoid Raya jam, according to PLUS

It’s finally almost time for Raya! And with many of us gearing up to balik kampung for the holidays, the government is planning to sweeten the deal by making all tolls free (or discounted, depending on the toll) from the 30th of April to the 1st of May.

Wait!! Don’t rejoice just yet- Even though you might be saving money on the tolls, let’s not forget that the insane combination of people heading back for Raya and free tolls might result in the ever-dreaded…

Okay la. Going through a jam in this situation seems kind of unavoidable right? But what if we told you that there might be a few steps that Malaysians can take to help reduce the risk of getting stuck in a terrible jam- Or at the very least have a less turbulent journey back to their hometowns.

We managed to speak to Syed Mohammed Idid, Head of Corporate Comms at PLUS, who shared a few ‘survival tips’ for people who are planning to make the trip back to their hometowns during this Raya ‘Toll-Free’ Day, such as…

Survival Tip #1: Leave EARLY, following the PLUS Travel Time Advisory (TTA)

Even though making the trip down to your hometown might seem pretty menial at first, Syed emphasized that the amount of traffic on the highway would most probably be at an all-time high, possibly extending the duration of your trip by double.

“In 2017, the traffic turnout was at 2.3mil. This year, we’re projecting the turnout to be around 2mil. And with that many cars on the road, a simple journey that would have ordinarily taken around 3 to 4 hours might end up being 7 to 8 hours long instead.” – Syed Mohammed Idid, to CILISOS.

With that said, he suggested that Malaysians who are planning to balik kampung on the ‘toll-free’ days to adjust their departure times according to the ‘Travel Time Advisory’ (TTA), which is a small timetable of sorts that was created as a suggestion by PLUS, in order to help people avoid getting stuck in congestions.

In summary, the TTA shows that on the date of departure (between April 29th to the 2nd of May), you should start your journey before 10am if you’re leaving to Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak (North) and Johor. Meanwhile, if you’re heading to the other states, it’s probably best that you leave after 1pm. On the other hand, when coming back to Klang Valley (from the 5th of May to the 9th of May), you should probably depart before 9am.

Oh, and the time that they set is the time that you should already be on the highway. Not just leaving your house at that time, k?

Survival Tip #2: Plan your journey (and toilet breaks!) ahead of time

Additionally, he also advised for Malaysians to plan their journey ahead, by taking note of the different routes and rest stops along the way. This is because, according to him, there’s a chance that some of the R&R’s might be temporarily closed when there are too many people using it, and some of the roads might end up being more jammed up than others.

So, to avoid issues like having to tahan your bladder for hours, and having your trip take twice as long, he recommended the use of the PLUS app (#notsponsored btw), which has a few key features that can help counter some of these issues like:

• Real-time CCTV footage, so road-users can see where the traffic jams are
• Allows you to see all the nearby R&R’s, Toll Lay-by’s (in case you need a quick toilet break), and Touch N’ Go reload spots along your route
• A toll fare calculator (so you can see how much money you saved), and…
• A “pre-order food” function???

Therefore, if you plan your trip in advance and depart according to the time that PLUS recommended, you should be all set for your journey back to your hometown. But there is one thing that you should also remember to bring along, even though it might seem unnecessary…

Survival Tip #3: Bring along your Touch N’ Go card

Now, you might’ve been thinking that since it’s being called “toll-free day”, all the toll gates will be open like sort of free-for-all. But that really isn’t the case, especially since not of the tolls are free. Instead, some tolls will have a discount of 30% or 50%, such as the Bandar Cassia (Second Bridge) Toll. So, you’ll still need to tap your Touch N’ Go card and hear the “dit”, but your money won’t be deducted.

The only reason why they still need you to tap your card is just so they can keep track of how many cars there are on the highway, so… please just bring it, ok?

Also, juuuust in case you decide to stay longer than expected, or in the worst case scenario, you’re still stuck in the jam when the toll-free day is up, you might wanna have money in your Touch N’ Go card so that you can actually pass the toll.

However, we did get this major pro-tip from Syed, who gave us a little life toll-hack in case anyone gets stuck in the jam right before time’s up:

“If you exit the toll after the timing is up, you will get charged the full amount of the toll from the moment you tapped in. Therefore, I would suggest for people to find the nearest toll-exit before the time ends, so that they can exit for free. And then, come back in through the same exit and continue, so that the toll fare will be cheaper.” – Syed Mohammed Idid, to CILISOS.

For safety’s sake, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

Going back for the Raya holidays is indeed fun, but it can also be dangerous or even fatal, if you don’t practice caution. In addition to all the basic things like being well-rested before the trip and making sure that your car is in good-enough shape to make the journey, there are other preparations that you can make as well to ensure a safe and comfortable journey, such as:

• Bringing along enough food and water, medication, and a torchlight for emergencies
• Having a set of tools on-hand, in case you need to change a tyre or fix your car
• Making sure that your phone is fully charged, or having a charging device in your car
• Taking note on common accident hotspots

However, if you do find yourself in trouble, PLUS assures that they have their people on-hand to assist you when needed. As such, you can reach them by pressing the SOS Button on the PLUS App, or using the Emergency Telephones along the highway.

Anyways, we would like to wish all of you a safe journey during the holidays and Selamat Hari Raya!