Malang - Gempol-Pandaan Toll Road Rates for the Pandaan IC-Pandaan toll road along 1.5 km and Section III Pandaan-Malang Toll Road (Pandaan-Singosari) along the 30.6 km will be applied starting on Friday, 9 August 2019 at 00.00 WIB. The two Trans Java Toll Road sections have been tested without operation since they were inaugurated by President Joko Widodo on May 14, 2019.

"The existence of this toll road has been long awaited by the community. Previously, the Surabaya-Malang travel time could be 3 to 3.5 hours, after the toll road was estimated to be only 1 hour, "PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said.

The application of Gempol-Pandaan and Pandaan-Malang Toll tariffs based on the Decree of the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Number 712 / KPTS / M / 2019 and Number 713 / KPTS / M / 2019 on 1 August 2019. The stipulated tariff has accommodated rationalization toll tariffs from initially 5 tariff groups for 5 classes of vehicles, to 3 tariff groups for 5 classes of vehicles.

The Gempol-Pandaan Toll Road tariffs for Pandaan IC-Pandaan are Group I Rp 1,500, Group II and III Rp 2,000, Group IV and V Rp 3,000. While Pandaan-Malang Toll Road Section I-III (Pandaan-Singosari) Group I is Rp. 27,500, Groups II and III are Rp. 41,500, Groups IV and V are Rp. 55,000. Meanwhile, the toll tariffs for Purwodadi-Lawang, Purwodadi-Singosari and Lawang-Singosari toll road sections have not changed.

With the enactment of the toll tariff, the magnitude of the distance to the farthest distance from Pandaan Toll Gate (GT) to Singosari GT is Rp. 29,000 for Group I vehicles, Rp. 43,500 for Groups II and III, and Rp. 58,000 for Group IV and V.

The socialization related to the toll tariff amount was carried out by the Toll Road Regulatory Agency (BPJT) of the Ministry of PUPR and the Toll Road Business Entity (BUJT) of PT Jasa Marga (Persero) Tbk together with the two toll road operators namely, PT Jasamarga Pandaan Malang (JPM) and PT Jasamarga Pandaan Toll (JPT).

BPJT member Agita Widjajanto said that the toll tariff setting had taken into consideration aspects of principal repayments and loan costs, operating costs and toll road maintenance as well as returning BUJT investment in the toll road construction process.

PT JPM President Director Agus Purnomo said that while operating without tariffs the average daily traffic (LHR) of vehicles from Surabaya to Malang or vice versa that passed through the Pandaan-Malang Toll Road reached 35,000 to 40,000 vehicles per day.

"This count is still the LHR only. If the weekend is counted, the traffic served by PT JPM can reach double the normal LHR, which is 70,000 to 80,000 vehicles. We are sure that the enthusiasm of road users is still maintained even though the Pandaan-Malang toll tariff is applied because of the benefits of the toll road itself, "Agus said.

In addition to speeding up travel time, the presence of the Pandaan-Malang Toll Road cuts the cost of mobilizing people and goods. The Pandaan-Malang toll road will also accelerate the growth of the Greater Malang Triangle region, Malang Regency, Malang City, and Batu City.

The toll road is also expected to further support the tourism sector such as Prigen safari park, Wonosari tea garden, Singosari Temple and Batu tourist area as well as increasing access for Singosari Special Economic Zones and Sultan Abdul Rachman Saleh Airport. (*)