Not just because of national cars, expert explains why public transport is so poor in Malaysia

Transport planning plays a crucial role in a country’s economic development, however in Malaysia, economic growth is badly hampered by the involvement of too many ministries in the planning for a good transport system, says a transport expert.

To be specific, the ministries that transport consultant Rosli Azad Khan is referring to aren’t the government coalition that has changed three times since 2018 but the Transport, Finance, and Works Ministry.

All three ministries play various roles in deciding on transport infrastructure, facilities, services, and policies. As a result, the public transport services and system planning have become fragmented.

Rosli told Free Malaysia Today (FMT) that other than Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, and Labuan which are managed under the federal territory’s ministry, all other city and municipal councils are under the local government and housing ministry.

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“This kind of structure and set-up is complex and complicated. There is also a low level of efficiency which, in the past, has resulted in self-inflicted problems.

“The set-up is not effective for long-term planning purposes nor does it help economic development,” said Rosli, who has more than 30 years of experience in the industry.

As an example, Rosli points out the Finance Ministry owns Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad, MRT Corp, MyHSR (High-Speed Rail), and Malaysia Rail Link (MRL) - which is now building the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), as well as Prasarana.

Highways come under the jurisdiction of the Works Ministry, as the Highway Planning Unit and Malaysia Highway Authority (LLM) both answer to the Works Ministry.

As proof that the current system is a let-down, Rosli cited the Klang Valley Double Tracking Phase 2 (KVDT2).

The KVDT2 project involves the rehabilitation of 265 km of railway tracks from Salak South in Kuala Lumpur to Seremban, and from Simpang Port Klang near Midvalley to Port Klang.

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Pakatan Harapan (PH) cancelled the project when the coalition took over in 2018, however, it was reinstated by the Perikatan Nasional-led government before it was cancelled again. This led to a suit by contractor Dhaya Maju-LTAT.

Rosli said that the failure to rehabilitate the railway tracks has driven away passengers to road transport. The prolonged unrepaired lines resulted in a decline in KTM passengers from 134,000 daily in 2015 to just 20,000 a day in 2022.

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“Without proper studies, planning considerations, assessment and comprehensive evaluation of travel demand and on how to provide the supply capacity side, the government, it seems, has made poor and rushed ad hoc decisions,” he said.

“Unless (certain) entities are restructured and run entirely by professionals, without any interference by politicians, I can’t see how we could progress to the next level or the desired optimal level of services.”