Do you ever feel frustrated to always get caught up in jams around Kuala Lumpur recently? Well as it turns out, according to recent data published by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), an average of 6 million cars are on the roads heading in and out of the city every day.
That’s 85% of commuters who rely on their cars as a means of going to and from work and at peak hours, from 6-9 am, an average of 2.2 million cars are on the road.
It’s a huge contrast to the number of public transport users which only account for an average of 1 million commuters or 15%. That figure is also far below the target by the Transport Ministry which aimed at least 40% of commuters to use public transport.
Also read: Not just because of national cars, expert explains why public transport is so poor in Malaysia
These figures were revealed by Transport Minister, Anthony Loke who recently announced plans to add contra lanes at 3 locations around the city which will start operating from 3-July 2023. One of these contra lanes – a 3 km stretch between Jalan Ampang near Ampang Point and Jalan Tun Razak – will only be reserved as a bus lane from 6-9 am and 5-7 pm.
The Transport Minister also advised DBKL to be stricter in giving approvals to developers for road closures due to construction works.
He has also stated that he will be starting discussions with academicians to find the core reason for the increasing number of traffic jams around the city as well as finding solutions to encourage the use of public transport.
@anaszack9 The challenge of being a non-car commuter in Malaysia 😮💨 #foryou #foryoupage #fyp #publictransport ♬ original sound – Anaszack
Most folks around the Klang Valley would prefer to take public transport if they have the chance but the biggest stumbling block is poor first-mile and last-mile connections. Be it unsafe paths that resemble a bouldering wall to get to the nearest MRT station or the absence of a bus route, taking public transport might sound like a challenging quest for some.
On the other hand, public transport use has been increasing in the city in 2023 so far. According to data by Prasarana which operates Rapid KL bus and train services, there have been more than 65.8 million ridership as of March 2023.
Though the number of ridership has increased every month, it wouldn’t make much sense if some of these commuters drive through a jam to make it to an LRT or MRT station, face a packed train, and repeat the process in reverse to head back home.
Source: DBKL: 6 mil cars on KL roads every day but only 1 mil commuters take public transport