The government, via the cabinet committee on road safety and traffic congestion, has approved an allocation of RM463 million to improve public transport services. According to deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the allocation follows on that announced in the 2025 budget as part of the country’s preparation to assume its duties as the ASEAN chair in 2025 and ready itself for Visit Malaysia Year 2026.
In a statement, he said that the meeting by the committee to approve the allocation also discussed several main issues of road safety and traffic congestion as well as the formulation of comprehensive solution initiatives aimed at encouraging the use of public transport in the Klang Valley and northern cities.
This includes the continued application of special dedicated bus lanes, which has proved to be successful in increasing the number of daily passengers, reducing travel time and improving commercial speed since its introduction in Kuala Lumpur in July last year, as Bernama reports.
Since then, the programme has been implemented in other areas in the Klang Valley as well as Penang, and further routes in KL have come about from November 2024, involving Jalan Ipoh, Jalan Cheras and Jalan Gombak, with an allocation of RM10 million being placed aside for this expansion.
Additionally, Prasarana Malaysia’s Demand Responsive Transit (DRT) service, which was introduced in June, to improve last-mile connectivity has reduced waiting times from 40 minutes to 13 minutes. The DRT presently has 20 vans in service, but plans are in place to increase this number to 300 in the future.
Ahmad Zahid said the meeting also decided to make it mandatory for all buses under the completely knocked down (CKD) category to have speed-limiting devices installed on them from January 1, 2026 under the vehicle type approval (VTA) procedure. This, he said, would increase compliance with speed limits and reduce the risk of accidents involving commercial vehicles.
He added that the meeting also agreed to strengthen cooperation between agencies by implementing a comprehensive study led by the Malaysian Institute for Road Safety Research (MIROS), including data sharing and engagement sessions to ensure a more effective approach in addressing road safety and congestion issues.
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