JOHOR BARU: An estimated 4 million vehicles are set to descend into Johor from Jan 20 to Jan 24.
State Road Transport Department deputy director Mohd Edir Sanip said based on discussions with highway concessionaire Plus, traffic in the state is expected to double from its daily count of 2 million vehicles.
He said the Causeway and the Skudai and Kempas toll plazas were among the entry points which are expected to see the hike in traffic.
Mohd Edir said while the department did not have data on the number of vehicles on the road during the past two years; the movement curbs in 2021 and the fact that borders were only partially open for the vaccinated in 2022 meant that seasonal traffic was expected to rebound to pre-pandemic levels.
Mohd Edir said as a result of this, careful enforcement plans have been drawn out by doubling the number of officers on field assignments.
He said this during a Press conference after launching the department's Chinese New Year Operations for 2023 at the Kempas Toll Plaza here, today.
He said the officers would patrol the highways and main roads in the state, especially in 45 hotspots where accidents frequently occur.
He said the department would also focus on seven major road offences, including running traffic lights, driving in emergency lanes, not wearing seat belts and using mobile phones while driving or riding motorcycles.
Mohd Edir said the department was also embarking on six more enforcement strategies.
They includes bus inspections at depots and terminals in the state, special checks on motorcycles, speeding up checks on public complaints and conducting road safety briefings.
They would also be impersonating bus passengers and taking footage of highway offenses.
"A total of 170 officers from all divisions including six branches, enforcement stations and two border control stations would be assigned throughout the Chinese New Year 2023 operation from January 18 to January 27, 2023."
