Touch ‘n Go demonstrates MLFF toll system in Malaysia – RFID and ANPR technology, coming soon?

Finally, some progress on Malaysia’s multi-lane fast flow (MLFF) tolling project – Touch ‘n Go has announced it has demonstrated a proof of concept, in collaboration with electronic toll collection (ETC) expert Star Systems International (SSI). The company claims the pilot programme marks a “significant step toward barrier-free” tolling in the country.

The system appears to have been installed on an existing gantry in Alam Impian along the Kemuning-Shah Alam Highway (LKSA), in line with a previous report. It uses SSI’s Titan Pro RFID reader and Avior high-powered antenna that have been customised by TnG for local infrastructure needs. According to SSI, the two technologies provide “exceptional read performance” and “unmatched performance and accuracy, achieving remarkable precision” in high-speed, multi-lane environments.

Another partner, Sidra Systems, provided its PARSEC lane control system, integrating SSI’s technologies with other sensors such as automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and 3D lidar sensors. The MLFF pilot is said to have been running fully autonomously alongside the existing Alam Impian toll to enable direct validation against actual tolling data. In testing, it has achieved 100% vehicle detection and reads over 99.98% of existing TnG RFID tags.

“The Titan Pro and Avior were purpose-built for high-speed, multi-lane tolling environments. SIDRA’s PARSEC brings out the maximum performance in our technology and acts as a glue that tightly integrates every component into a single, highly responsive tolling ecosystem.

“In collaboration with Touch ’n Go’s platform and SIDRA’s system integration, this project showcases a successful implementation of MLFF in Malaysia. We are proud to partner with Touch ’n Go in turning this vision into reality,” said SSI chief technical officer Stephen Lockhart.

Touch ‘n Go says the technology showcase is in line with Malaysia’s broader digital mobility agenda, which also includes the implementation of open toll payments. It adds that its RFID system remains the backbone technology for barrier-free, high-speed MLFF tolling.

“With nationwide RFID adoption and an MLFF-ready system, we are fully prepared to deliver tolling that is seamless, reliable and future-ready,” said TnG CEO Praba Sangarajoo. “Made for Malaysians, by Malaysians, this solution reflects our deep commitment to the nation. Beyond technology, it represents our promise to Driving Malaysia’s Mobility Forward.”

Now that TnG has successfully demonstrated a fully-functional MLFF system, might we see it being implemented across all highways in Malaysia soon? We sure hope so, but there are still obstacles ahead, as the government has so far failed to achieve a consensus among concessionaires.

Last we heard, these concessionaires have been allowed to choose their own partners, which means we could see different technologies and even different payment methods for each highway – although we’d expect the government to step in to prevent the latter from happening.

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