RFID @ Penang Bridge

A few days ago, I was at the Penang Bridge office at the mainland end of the bridge, intending to renew my Touch-N-Go card as I thought it would be expiring soon. If anyone were to look at their Touch-N-Go cards, you'd see that the card's expiration month and year would be printed on the back of the cards. Mine said 03/2020.

So I went to the Penang Bridge office to get it renewed. However, the counter staff there said that it wasn't the expiration time yet. He checked in the system and said my card could still be used until the middle of April. So what about the information on the back of the card, I asked him. Oh, he said that was only to indicate the expiration as per the date the cards were distributed to their office. He agreed it was quite misleading to the public and then he proceeded to write the actual expiration date on my card with a marker pen. 😒

But since I was already at their office, I also asked whether Penang users of the RFID tag would be eligible for the additional 18 percent discount. Would I be charged RM4.59 as a Penang-registered user or would I be charged the normal RM5.74. Sorry, the counter staff said. There are no plans yet to extend the discount to Penang RFID users at the bridge.

I was pretty miffed. Shit, I thought to myself, what's the use of introducing a new service when you remove an existing benefit from it? It was simply illogical. So in the meantime, Penang motorists should steer clear of  Lane 26 at the Penang Bridge toll station unless you are rich enough and you don't care. If you are like me, you can save RM1.15 per trip across the water by NOT using Lane 26. It adds up to a lot in the long run.