What’s the best way to reduce traffic congestion and boost public transport usage? A surcharge for single or low-occupancy vehicles entering KL city is one of the ways to do so, says Universiti Putra Malaysia road safety research centre head Assoc Prof Dr Law Teik Hwa.
He said some six million vehicles enter KL daily and at least 2.2 million do so during peak hours, as compiled in a study carried out in April and conducted using the Automatic Real-time Incident Detection System. ARIDS is powered by artificial intelligence that uses social media apps and Google traffic data to detect incidents that impact traffic speed, such as accidents and vehicle breakdowns.
“Among the busiest roads are Jalan Sungai Besi, Jalan Kuching, Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, Jalan Klang Lama, Jalan Kuchai Lama, Jalan Cheras, Jalan Tarawih, Jalan Damansara and the Duke, Salak and KL-Seremban highways. Based on DBKL findings, motorists in the Klang Valley spend about RM6.8 billion annually on petrol while stuck in traffic during their daily commute to and from work. Efforts should be made to reduce this burden,” he said, reported by The Sun.
The obvious answer is public transport, which are involved in fewer accidents per passenger mile compared with private cars and contribute to safer streets by reducing the number of vehicles on the road and promoting pedestrian friendly spaces, Law said.
But with commuters stubbornly sticking to their cars, other methods to control vehicle numbers should be enforced, and Law suggested surcharges in several forms, including ‘Variable Charging Based on Occupancy’, which varies based on the number of passengers in vehicles. “Higher charges apply to vehicles with fewer passengers, with rates decreasing as vehicle occupancy increases. This would encourage carpooling and reduce single-occupancy vehicle trips,” he said.
Meanwhile, ‘Time of Day Pricing’ levies higher charges during peak hours when congestion is typically worse. If motorists avoid peak hours, it would help spread out traffic flow. ‘Integration with Public Transport’ offers incentives or exemptions for vehicles that integrate with public transport networks, such as park-and-ride facilities or preferential access to designated lanes for buses and carpools.
The most complex suggestion is ‘Dynamic Adjustment’, which adjusts charges based on real-time traffic conditions and congestion levels.
“Authorities could implement the methods after a study to ascertain which would be most effective. Considering the majority of Malaysians rely on private vehicles and nearly 90% of daily road users commute alone, discouraging private vehicle usage would contribute to better traffic conditions,” the academic said.
Is traffic jam solely the fault of motorists? Aside from the high number of cars, Law said that traffic management issues such as inefficient traffic light systems and timing, poor traffic flow management and a lack of synchronised traffic signals are among the main reasons for congestion.
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where the hell is Jalan Tarawih?
Anywhere jalan when its time for Muslims to perform tarawih prayers. That time double triple park jam.
Instead of encouraging more creative ways for the govt to tax the rakyat, they should emphasise better city planning and enforcement to make KL more friendly for pedestrians. Also better reach/access, frequency and comfortable amenities for public transportation helps as well. I would rather not drive to KL if i can get away with it but for many thats not really an option.
Exactly! I see you wanna copycat Singapore’s congestion charge but please don’t blow hot air if you can’t even copy Singapore’s extensive public transport network.
too late on the city planning, bcoz everything has been built. everything elevated and building entrance different level, tats y its never gonna be pedestrian friendly.
keep thinking of ways to tax Rakyat, instead of thinking of ways to improve public transport. This proposed tax method is sinisterly similar to Singapore’s ERP
Unsurprising that such “studies” will benefit the rich seeing as it came from PH Gomen that only cares for the rich. You see only the rich stays in KL, while the poor has to stay outskirts and come into KL to work. So of course this congestion charge will make the poor suffer even more while the rich KLites no need to pay these charges on top of free KL parking & cheaper roadtax for their EVs.
Banning outrider convoy by whoever, the ministers, their deputies, their wives, their mistresses and their children would improve the traffic tremendously.
Too many vip’s. In one day, driving from KL to putrajaya, 5 VIP convoy I encountered. It’s annoying.
PROVIDE RELIABLE FACILITY!
THEN, EDUCATE PEOPLE TRASITIONING TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT.
Punishing people who prefer convenience is not the answer.
If public transport is more convenient surely people will use
I got a friend that stay 300m away from MRT2 and there was a station almost in front of her office, only about 200 or 300m distance. Guess what, she choose to drive and bought a X50. She every month paying 1200 instalment, 300 petrol and 200 tolls and parking. Her salary is about 4k and yet she paying RM1700, if she choose to take train it cost her only RM50 per month. Why she doesn’t take public transport? She never used to because since college time she drove to school everyday. The public transports in KV is considered not bad and still I believe there are many people reluclant to take.
tell that to people in Puncak Alam, Setia Alam, Semenyih, Saujana Putra, Dengkil, Bandar Serenia, Banting, etc working in KL..and you compare to ONE of your friend.
Used to be a thing in Singapore in the 80s. One of the checkpoint for single passenger cars was around Cairnhill Road. What happened was people would charge $0.20 to hop onto your car, then get off after the point where enforcement were stationed.
Also go read people putting mannequins, dummies in the passenger seat to circumvent HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) restrictions. No really
Talk and discuss can be easy.
It would not be a reality unless the root cause can be solved.
That’s ease of transportation
Just implement ERP gantry.
Yes I agree. That would be the best solution. The other 0ne is introduce COE. At present it’s not uncommon to see at least 3 cars in a house. It’s outrageous, sometimes even up to 5! No wonder we’re having traffic jams daily!! With car ownership so lax people resort to buying more cars to overcome their travel problems. This has got to stop and the government is building new roads to overcome traffic jams. This is just not right!!!
You gotta be kidding…a household having 3 or 5 cars could mean they have 3 or 5 persons under the same roof going to different areas to work/study..even if there is only 2 persons in that house doesn’t mean 5 cars will be out on the road at once…where your logic? If the Gomen can’t provide “good & reliable public transport” then they have no right to go tax the rakyat further when they can’t even contain their own budget leaks… Waste of taxpayers money..
This CBD surcharge and carpooling has been discussed donkey moons from the last few regimes,and nothing concrete came out.
It is kami akan,sedang,perlu memantau ,memantau..until the cow comes home.
If everything implement fast2, then kempen time we don’t have broken promises to sell to gullible maresyans anymore
Seriously who are these brilliant so called “experts” fix the public transport first la. Maybe can ask companies to not force their employees to masuk office that would really help with congestion
Ni mesti rindu time wfh kuat megulau kat rumah kan? Sekarang meroyan sebab kena paksa masuk balik kerja
sama aje, i masak roti canai at rumah boleh deliver keluar, i masak roti canai at kedai pun boleh deliver keluar apa pasal i nak masuk kedai
This has been discussed since the 1900s in KL. No willpower to do it.
I wonder if this guy ever takes public transport to get anywhere in his daily life. The system here is so poorly planned, if you have to change mode/line more than once, you can expect an exponential increase in travel time. One side complain too many vehicles on the road so jam. Other side never bikin the first/last mile connectivity. Apa mau buat? This is not London or Singapore where you have alternatives so you don’t have to drive and incur the congestion charge.
Higher charges apply to vehicles … (Please correct the error.
after rear admiral shake hands with WEF’s klaus anal swab, all the taxes sunak implemented in UK and trudeau implemented in canada is being implemented here!!
Every morning when I look at the car left and right, 90% of cars are only driver without any passenger. I strongly agree gov to charge single driver entering into KL city center.
Take an example in Jalan Kuching, the road from Selayang NSK to Jalan Duta roundabout is less than 10km and it tooks 1 hour in the morning. Guess what, there are number of cars from Jalan Ipoh and Jalan Kepong chip in that cause the massive traffic. Rawang and Selayang didn’t have train station like LRT or MRT. But people stay in Kepong or Jalan Ipoh got MRT2, but still many of them decided to drive to KL. Kepong side to Jalan Kuching got a flyover and after the flyover many people or 90% are heading straight to KL city center instead of taking the access to Duke highway to place like subang, PJ, shah alam, gombak etc. Gov already built the MRT2 to Kepong citizens but still many people stubborn choose to drive to KL city center.
Laugh me die…asking public using public transport with now days crime .where safe for civilians ?even out balai polis close thier gate at 10pm..polis also worrie the safety.
This so call “Expert – Prof Dr Law Teik Hwa” is living on La-La-Land, smoking weed, drinking home brew alcohol using university lab all days long is completely detached with reality.
He/she/either/neither might as well tell government to mandate companies to let everyone work from home so there is no traffic in KL. At least this is already proven to be somewhat workable since we have done that during covid.
Encourage employers to allow Work from Home whenever possible. Change the office hours to morning and afternoon shifts so that there are no overlapping peak hours.
Did these academician bought their phds or what?
Even with jammed traffic, ppl could get to their works in time.
Forcing them to use the very unreliable public transport of malaysia would need them to spend hour(s) more on the road.
Include bus ride, lrt ride, hell even on foots.
At what time should they send their kids to school, 6.00 am Already at the gate?
Kaki bodek, cilaka punya academicians
Probably why you’re still an associate professor. Instead of introducing such single occupancy surcharge which will undoubtedly come with a huge implementation cost knowingly how the country is run; it is better to focus on improving the present public transport infrastructure and educating the people on benefits of taking public transportation.
Traffic jammed in during peak time due to improper intersection and dispersal system. Just to give one example on the multiple intersection from KL-Seremban highway at Salak Selatan towards NPE, MEX, towards PJ & SPE. Merging and dispersal almost at the location
This professor is brainless, this is no solution. There is no way am gonna commute with anyone in my car, so carpooling is out of the question. Who made him professor i was wonder that, his probably just went to UK for a few days of holiday (which has 25 intercity trains) and came up with silly suggestions. Its a no rocket science, simple answer, put the freaking MRT3, 4 and 5 in place quickly Have a station within 300 meters of the proximity to your home, wherever you live in Klang Valley and surrounding areas and nobody will drive i can assure you that. Instead of stressing on having a solid public trasport system in place, his suggesting about charges. UPM is out of KL and for sure he himself is driving to work. Nonsense.
Try out even & odd number on different day.
Just taxing people is not the same as giving people an alternative. Do you think we all want to waste hours of our lives stuck in a jam?
The issue for many people, there are no viable alternatives. I made the switch to a bike 3 years ago …but that wouldn’t work if I have to ferry kids to a school.
Besides most of the traffic and jams are due to bad city planning and routes. If you plan to want to have everyone in the same place at the same time, of course traffic will grind to a halt.
Just look at one single highway interchange in KV ( yes, not even city centre yet) . Sg. Besi + NPE + SPE + Salak + MEX + Smart. All within 300m ..with cars scrambling to merge multiple lanes. All you get is gridlock.
I’m a property agent who needs to travel solo frequently between meetings. do your expect me to pay chsrges for that ?
Try office & factory split their working hrs some companies start at 7.30am, 8.30am,9.30am to spread out traffic rather to congest at one time
I was right. We are turning more & more socialist as time goes by. Do not follow western countries foot steps. Capitalism is always the way to go. This is a lazy way of solving problems and believe me, it wont solve anything. People will still refuse to use public transport & carpool. It will only make the people goes bankrupt. Taxing people to death is not going to solve any problems, it will make things worse. We need better city planning.
Our planners for decades have been a fan of large urban sprawl. We never learn from it. There are very little sidewalks and train stations are always located in the middle of nowhere. There are no sidewalks to walk to these train stations and you have to drive. Parking lots are always insufficient at these train stations. Recently I went to Ipoh. While I am impressed with the growth of the city, it is obvious that Ipoh is becoming more & more of an urban sprawl just like Klang Valley. Have our planners ever leanred from our previous mistakes? You want to solve the traffic issue, stop taxing people & be lazy. Work harder at planning our city & use some common sense when you plan.
Kepala bapak kau! Who’s this Kang Kong professor? How many volumes of research books he has written? How did he get his professorship? Is it recognized by overseas learning institution?
Can we borrow from the experts grandfather & ancestors the money to pay for the BS?
NOTHING BUT TO EARN FROM PUBLIC!
USELESS AND STUPID EXPERT!
Should be expert in analyzing poops!
I got idea that will benefit the people without spending but these ignorant arrogant scumbags never wanna listen!
I would rather take public transport to work daily iso driving but ….