Reports by TARRENCE TAN, GERARD GIMINO, HO JIA WEN, JUNAID IBRAHIM, YEE XIANG YUN, MARTIN CARVALHO and TAN SIN CHOW
KUALA LUMPUR: The cities of George Town in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru have been identified for the initial rollout of potential congestion charges.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa (pic) said at the Dewan Rakyat that this is still being studied by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research and the Malaysia Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation.
The aspects studied include the implementation mechanism, potential traffic volume reduction, and increased public transport uptake if a congestion charge is introduced.
The study is expected to be completed by this year.
“If we implement the congestion charge, it can reduce traffic volume by up to 20% in Kuala Lumpur. The charge also cannot be too low but instead discourage vehicles from using certain roads.
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“We also do not want the charge to be too high, which can burden the public,” she said during Minister Question Time yesterday.
Citing early findings from the study, Dr Zaliha said similar measures used abroad are also considered for implementation in Malaysia.
Among the measures cited by Dr Zaliha is the Electronic License Plate Reader system in New York, which automatically imposes charges once a number plate is read.
In Singapore, the electronic road pricing mechanism imposes charges according to the zone and specific times to control traffic flow.
In London, there are congestion charge zones where the system imposes charges on vehicles that enter selected cities at peak hours. Dr Zaliha also referenced the road space rationing measure practised in Jakarta and Beijing, where private vehicle use is limited to odd or even numbers depending on the day.
She was responding to a question by Datuk Azman Nasrudin (PN-Padang Serai), who asked about the mechanism used for the congestion charge and the reduction that can be expected.
Dr Zaliha noted that approximately 1.5 million vehicles enter and exit Kuala Lumpur in 24 hours, adding that public transport ridership in Kuala Lumpur was only 25%.
“In this context, I agree with the Transport Minister’s stance that it is not appropriate to impose the congestion charge without a complete and integrated public transport system,” she added.
On Feb 19, Transport Minister Anthony Loke told the Dewan Rakyat that the proposed congestion charge in the city would only be implemented when the public transportation system has been enhanced.
