PETALING JAYA: For many years, driving home from his workplace was a nightmare for Terry Abraham, as peak hours meant being stuck in gridlock traffic jams for hours.
He is optimistic that the city’s plan to implement a congestion charge will resolve this ongoing problem.
“I support this proposal, but many other things should be considered. What about those who live in the city?
“Do we also have to pay every time we go home?” said Abraham, who lives in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Bintang.
The 36-year-old suggested that residents and businesses potentially affected should be engaged before implementing the congestion charges.
Meanwhile, car salesman Mohd Zalani Yusof, 52, who frequently travels from Rawang in Selangor to Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, opposed the idea.
“Tolls and road tax are enough. I’m not willing to pay extra for the congestion charge,” he said, expressing concern that this would only further financially burden Malaysians.
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He urged the government to improve public transport before implementing new policies that would be burdensome for the rakyat, especially for those living outside the city but working downtown.
“The main reason people drive their own vehicles is that public transportation is not convenient enough,” he said.
While welcoming the decision, Malaysian Public Transport Users Association president Ajit Johl stressed that it should be combined with other policies aimed at discouraging private vehicle ownership.
“Imposing a congestion charge is one way to make car ownership more expensive.
“The government should also reconsider its move to continue fuel subsidies.
“If citizens realise that owning a private car is unaffordable, they will use public transport instead,” he said.
Ajit also urged the government to continue improving public transport by allowing local authorities to manage congestion, including using the collected fees to improve public facilities.
“Local authorities should be empowered to manage traffic congestion and use charge revenues to improve public transport.
“For example, local governments should use the money to build physical road barriers for bus lanes, as opposed to traffic cones,” he added, emphasising the need to expedite the implementation of the new policy.
Assoc Prof Dr Law Teik Hua, who heads the Road Safety Research Centre at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Engineering Faculty, agreed that dedicated bus lanes should be introduced when the congestion charges are implemented.
Aside from the lanes, he also suggested increasing the frequency of buses and expanding their coverage.
“There must also be well-marked signage and digital displays to inform drivers about congestion zones, charges and alternative routes,” he said.
For smooth collection of congestion charges, Law said the government should think about using the newest technology, like electronic toll collection systems with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) or GPS-based tracking.
