THE recent debate around “Bangun KL” has once again put traffic congestion in the spotlight.
As someone who travels from Kajang to Kuala Lumpur city centre for work while making school runs, the commute can be crippling.
On most days, I leave home at 6.30am, only to reach the office two hours later.
Truth be told, initiatives like “Bangun KL”, which involves offering discounted coffee for those who reach the city centre before 8am, does little to resolve a systemic problem.
What the government needs is unconventional solutions, some of which might be unpopular in the short-term but helpful in the long-run.
First, public transport must be enhanced drastically.
It is ironic that a few days after “Bangun KL” was announced, there was a service disruption on the Kelana Jaya LRT line.
Public transport ought to be the primary mode of transportation. In this respect, it is important to beef up last-mile connectivity.
Related to this is pricing. Cities like London and Singapore have shown that pricing mechanisms can shape commuter behaviour.
While a direct transplant of congestion charges may not suit Malaysia, a gradual approach involving peak and off-peak pricing, both for tolls and public transport, could gradually shift travel patterns.
This may be a politically unpopular but necessary move.
The government can also provide incentives to employers to adopt flexible working hours or hybrid arrangements to meaningfully reduce peak-hour congestion.
This can come in the form of targeted tax rebates or policy- linked benefits to help drive adoption at scale.
Another often overlooked aspect is the efficiency of existing systems.
Toll plazas are a case in point. Motorists in the Klang Valley are familiar with how toll plazas become traffic chokepoints, despite drivers paying for a smoother journey.
This has led to what is called “toll fatigue”.
A pilot project involving the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system on a stretch of North-South Expressway between Hutan Kampung in Kedah and Sungai Dua in Penang shows that this problem can be resolved.
Instead of relying on dedicated lanes or physical devices, cameras identify vehicles and process toll payments automatically, allowing motorists to pass through without stopping.
I can attest to the efficiency of the system, having used it when I went back to Kedah during the recent Hari Raya holidays.
The JustGo app for users to enrol in the system works well and is user-friendly, particularly since no additional hardware is required and the system can work across multiple payment methods.
If such a system is expanded, it will hopefully culminate in the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) tolling adopted by many developed countries.
This is not a silver bullet.
It is just an example of the kind of courage and unconventional ideas the government needs to adopt to solve one of the most crippling and long-standing woes that have plagued people living and working in the Klang Valley.
We can no longer stick with “safe”, outdated approaches that do not work anymore.
“Bangun KL” may have some merit but it is not nearly enough to solve this gargantuan issue.
The challenge now is whether we are willing to connect the dots and move beyond incremental fixes.
If not, the daily cycle of traffic jams and toll fatigue will remain very much intact.
FIRDAUS MOHD ARIFF
Kajang
