PLUS leverages AI to transform highway operations

KUALA LUMPUR: PLUS Malaysia Bhd is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), predictive analytics, and connected technologies to enhance highway operations, safety, efficiency, and the travel experience. Currently at Level 3 of its smart highway development, PLUS envisions reaching Level 4 by 2030, where highways become cognitive and autonomous.

The goal is to enable highways to sense, analyze, predict, and respond to changing conditions more effectively. By integrating AI, predictive analytics, and digital technologies, PLUS is transitioning from traditional highway operations to a more intelligent, connected, and predictive ecosystem.

Operating 1,121km of highways across six concessions and serving around two million travellers daily, PLUS employs AI, machine learning, and computer vision for highway operations and infrastructure management. This includes defect detection, optimized maintenance planning, and the use of vehicle-mounted cameras and laser technologies for infrastructure inspections at traffic speeds. Drones are also utilized to minimize personnel exposure to hazardous environments.

For road safety, PLUS has installed a suicide detection system at six critical points on the Penang Bridge, detecting 55 cases as of October, with a 73 percent survival rate. The PLUSRonda Intelligent Management System utilizes real-time data to enhance incident response and resource deployment, enabling more effective emergency responses.

Digital customer service is bolstered by Putri, PLUS's virtual assistant, which handled 185,811 conversations between January and August 2026, saving 15,484 hours for emergency response. The addition of the Putri Voice Bot led to a 26 percent increase in conversation completions in August, indicating a rising adoption of automated customer engagement.

PLUS is also striving for a more seamless toll payment experience through JustGO, an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR)-based system allowing registered motorists to use any toll lane without physical cards or in-vehicle devices. This technology supports future multi-lane free flow (MLFF) tolling capabilities under the #LaneFreedom initiative.

Looking forward, Nik Airina aims to integrate traffic monitoring, incident detection, weather sensors, asset management, and digital customer services into a comprehensive smart highway ecosystem, potentially offering features like congestion prediction, smart lane activation, variable speed limits, and predictive maintenance. Achieving this ambitious vision will necessitate closer collaboration among highway operators, regulators, government agencies, and technology partners.