PUTRAJAYA, March 6 — The government has approved and channelled a RM50 million allocation to expand special bus lanes and purchase 100 demand response transit (DRT) vans in the Klang Valley starting this September.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, speaking as the Cabinet Committee on Road Safety and Traffic Congestion (JKMKJR) chairman, said studies have indicated the implementation of Special Bus Lanes in Jalan Ampang and Genting Klang since July 3 has shown a favourable response in terms of time savings.
“The data shows there is a time saving of up to 18 minutes for the bus journey at the location (point-to-point), and based on the savings, there is an increase in the number of passengers daily by 20 to 45 per cent.
“Thus, with the effectiveness of the reduction in travel time there was an increase in bus frequency and the number of daily passengers, so the JKMKJR meeting decided to maintain the special bus route in Jalan Ampang and Jalan Genting Klang,” he said in a statement after the JKMKJR 1/2024 meeting today.
The meeting also agreed to extend the special bus route to Jalan Klang Lama starting in June and carry out a study for the implementation of bus lanes in Jalan Cheras (Taman Connaught-Jalan Pudu) and the Federal Highway (Kuala Lumpur City Centre-Shah Alam Interchange).
Zahid said the meeting decided to implement a new dispersal system in stages for critical congestion locations after receiving information from the police, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), and the Public Works Department (JKR).
The government has also implemented contra routes to help traffic congestion, especially at peak times, and the results of a study by the Malaysian Road Safety Research Institute (MIROS) indicated that 88 per cent of highway users agreed that contra routes are effective in reducing traffic congestion.
“(Thus) the meeting agreed to improve enforcement and operational measures to avoid issues like accidents resulting from the installation of cones and addition of lighting when it rains and when it is dark,” he said.
In addition, PLANMalaysia will examine proposals for development projects using the concept based on ‘Transit Oriented Development’ (TOD) as a long-term measure to reduce road congestion, particularly in the development and operation areas of the East Coast Rail Line Project (ECRL), the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), the Light Rail Transit (LRT), and Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB).
Regarding data related to road safety, Zzahid said Malaysia recorded 6,443 traffic-related deaths last year with an average of 18 deaths per day. Of these, 4,480 deaths involved motorcycle users.
The JKMKJR meeting also discussed other proposals like the dispersion of Johor Bahru traffic submitted by the Johor state government and agreed to the proposed construction of a 7.4 kilometre long covered footpath and the addition of 175 bus stops by the Housing and Local Government Ministry throughout this year in Klang Valley.
“I hope this initiative can be implemented in accordance with the plan to ensure the quality of Malaysia’s public transport services can be improved, thus further attracting the people to switch to the use of public transport services to meet their mobility needs,” he said.
Meanwhile, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the JKMKJR meeting also decided the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) will issue a report on road accident cases every day.
Speaking at a press conference in Parliament today, he said the report, which must be implemented in the near future, aims to increase public awareness on road safety as road accidents are one of the main causes of death in Malaysia.
“So today’s meeting decided that information about road accidents will be released in real-time every day by PDRM, and PDRM has also agreed.
“Usually, these statistics (road accidents) are only released once a year, but that gives a picture which does not cause concern to the public. So, what the government is doing is to raise public awareness,” he said.
— Bernama
