A heavy vehicle passes through the Lanang Bridge toll plaza.
SIBU: The waiving of Lanang Bridge toll will bring big relief to some 100 students from Sarikei studying at University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) here.
Many of them commute daily from their homes to the university are burdened by the high travel cost in the form of fuel and toll fee besides the hassle of long queues during festivities.
To them, zero tolls would go a long way to lessen their families’ burden and any savings would be used for educational purposes.
The current toll rate per crossing are as follows: Motorcycle (RM0.50); car (including taxi and MPVs) (RM3); van, minibus, pickup truck, SUVs and light truck (less than five tonnes) (RM5); bus (RM8), lorry (RM15) and trailer (RM25).
Like those living on the opposite bank, the students described the abolishment of toll as a timely move.
A foundation student Mohazim Abdul Hamid, 20, who commutes from Bintangor to UCTS daily, bemoaned that he had to fork out about RM30 for toll monthly.
If that was not burdensome enough, he had to reach deep into his pocket for his petrol expenses which come to about RM50 a month.
He sets out about 6am everyday from his house and reaches the university about an hour later.
“I ride slowly so it takes me longer time to reach the university which is some 39km away. After class, I will head home about 5pm.
“As I am making daily trip, I need to refill, spending RM3 on petrol each time while it is RM1 (RM0.50 per crossing) for toll. So, in total, I spend about RM50 on fuel and RM30 on toll each month and this is burdensome.
“Now that the toll will be scrapped, I will be able to save and utilise the savings for educational purposes such as purchasing more reference books,” Mohazim said, adding the hassle of queueing up would be a thing of the past.
The queues were especially long during Chinese New Year as people rushed home for the celebration, he said.
Bachelor of Civil Engineering student Lee Su Ling, 22, from Sarikei, estimated savings of about RM300 a year from the waiver of toll.
Lee drives home for the weekend, paying RM3 per crossing. He worked out his expenses incurred on toll to be about RM24 a month.
“For students, this is indeed a burden as it increases our expenses and travel cost,” he said, adding that he spent about RM200 on fuel monthly.
Like Mohazim, he too wanted to use the savings to purchase reading materials to improve his knowledge.
“The savings can also be used for my petrol,” he said.
He reckoned that the toll waiver would encourage more parents from Sarikei and Bintangor to send their children to study at UCTS.
Sharmin Amalina, 22, who is pursuing a Bachelor in Business Administration, too welcomed the toll waiver.
She said her parents would fetch her home twice in a month.
“If not for the payment of toll, my parents would have come more often to fetch me,” she giggled.
Another foundation student from Sarikei, Ting Su Yiung, 18, said the move (toll waiver) would go a long way to relieve his family’s burden.
“I will make sure the savings is put to good use – for educational purposes,” said the former student of SMK Tinggi, Sarikei, who scored 10As in last year’s SPM.
Meanwhile, UCTS’ student service executive Fadhilah Ideris expressed optimism that the toll waiver would bring about more positive impact.
Vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Dr Abdul Hakim Juri reckoned the move would benefit students in the area.
“At the moment about 70 per cent of our students are commuting daily from their homes. There are also students from Sarikei and areas on the opposite side of the bank studying here.
“So, if they are commuting then, probably this will reduce their travel cost.
Any reduction in travel cost is good. The other thing is that, if parents want to visit their children, they will not think twice coming over.
“It is good for us. It is good for the community and the students. We also have several staff from Sarikei and Bintangor, who drive daily to work.
“I am sure they will welcome the abolishment of toll,” Abdul Hakim said.
To a question, he concurred that students from schools in Sarikei and Bintangor would be making more educational trips to UCTS.
He added that they were encouraging more schools to visit the university to know about the various programmes offered.
“Without having to incur additional cost with the toll, we foresee there will be more visits from that area to UCTS,” said Abdul Hakim.
He described the scrapping of toll as a good move.
UCTS deputy vice-chancellor (academic) Professor Dato Dr Sabarudin Mohd agreed with the students that the abolishment of toll could perhaps encourage parents to visit their children in the campus more often.
Sabarudin too believed that those who use the bridge daily would have one less burden.