Time for a holistic transportation masterplan

Constructing more highways is not the comprehensive solution to reducing traffic congestion 

IMAGINE the billions of ringgit the government has invested in the various construction and development of rail systems for the past two decades being channelled as financial assistance to help the urban and rural poor. There will be a lesser percentage of the urban and rural poor in the country, particularly when the total cost of all the Mass Rapid Transit projects alone is around RM102.5 billion. 

However, this is not the case because every few years, there will be just one or two new highways completed and most of the time, they are being constructed for the same purpose — to alleviate the traffic congestion in urban areas. 

No doubt that having a highway is good, but it is only beneficial to a certain group of people and the benefits are only to a certain extent. 

However, do we need so many highways around the urban areas in the first place or do we as the rakyat prefer the government or the highway concessionaires to do something more practical, taking into account the continuous increase in the cost of living and rising unemployment rate? 

I am sure most will prefer the latter. 

Additionally, the construction of additional highways conflicts with the government spending billions of ringgit on those rail infrastructures. The government needs to be aware that road infrastructures and rail infrastructures don’t complement each other, they are just competing against. 

This is because people will be more inclined to drive to their destination compared to having to switch to different modes of transportation for the same purpose. Soon enough, these rail infrastructures that are already in place will become meaningless because they failed to serve their intended purpose. 

Therefore, instead of building more highways that might encourage more vehicles on the road, the government should set their priorities on the right track by encouraging the public to take the various public transport systems that are already available, so that these rail infrastructures can serve their purpose. 

By doing so, the government might be able to start achieving a commendable result for their “60:40” agenda, which they have been trying to materialise for the longest time. 

On that note, the government is also sending the wrong signal to the public when they announced different incentives for private vehicle ownership. Although the intention is good, these incentives will also be driving the number of newly registered vehicles up to the point where it will overtake Malaysia’s human population if something is not done to address the problem. 

Apart from the federal government, the respective state governments’ local councils can also play their role in assisting Putrajaya to encourage the public to take public transport. These local councils can consider rolling out different initiatives that could address the “first and last mile” agenda. 

If both the federal and state governments continue to refuse to work with each other on this, there might not be sufficient land or space to construct additional road infrastructure to cater to the increasing number of vehicles.pic MUHD AMIN NAHARUL / TMR

  • Adrian Phung is a copy editor at The Malaysian Reserve. 

  • This article first appeared in The Malaysian Reserve weekly print edition