An aerial view of the Johor Causeway which links Malaysia with Singapore at back. - THOMAS YONG/The Star
ISKANDAR PUTERI: To help ease congestion at the Causeway, Johor is looking at introducing separate lanes for buses ferrying workers and the public and allowing cars to use lorry lanes on weekends.
State works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said the Johor Public Transport Corp (PAJ) conducted a study on ways to improve traffic flow at the Causeway.
He said one proposal was to have separate lanes for the buses at the Johor side of the 1.056km Causeway.
More than 300,000 Malaysians travel across the Causeway daily, making it one of the busiest overland border crossings in the region.
The majority of the travellers are Malaysians who work in the city state.
“We noticed that some of the buses ferrying workers stopped and waited along the Causeway. They are supposed to transport workers but when there are many empty seats, the driver would try to get others on board.
“This worsens the congestion, especially as the bus lane is being shared with school and public buses. Hundreds of buses ferrying workers use the Causeway daily,” he said yesterday.
In view of this, Mohamad Fazli said the state government proposed for the two existing bus lanes at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar (BSI) Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) to be separated.
The state exco member said that the proposals from the PAJ were discussed during a meeting with the task force overseeing the congestion issue.
“The matter has been brought to the attention of the Public Works Department (JKR),” he said.
Mohamad Fazli said another proposal was to increase motorcycle lanes from 50 hybrid lanes to 75.
“Each lane has a booth for manual Immigration clearance as well as a Secured Automated Clearance System for Malaysian Citizen Motorcyclists (M-Bike).
“We propose to demolish most of the manual clearance booths to make way for more M-Bike lanes. Based on the design we have come out with, of the 75 lanes, 67 will be M-Bike lanes with eight as hybrid lanes,” he said.
He said another proposal was to allow two out of the six existing lorry lanes to be used by cars on weekends.
“While the state government does not have the full power to resolve the issues at the CIQ as it also involves federal agencies, we are doing all we can on our part,” he added.
On complaints of Immigration counters at the checkpoints being unmanned, Mohamad Fazli said the problem was due to lack of manpower.
“When the border was closed for two years, many Immigration officers at the CIQ were transferred to other places. The department is in the process of bringing in more personnel,” he added.
