Dear Editor, MENTION Kuala Lumpur and first words that come to mind are `traffic jams’ and `frustrations’. Highway concessionaires and the government have given assurances that highways will reduce traffic congestion and travelling time, but motorists always end up losing as land development allows more and more cars to spill onto the highways.

Are we compensated for this?

No. Instead, toll rates have to be increased as agreed in the concessionaire agreements.

To aggravate traffic congestion further, about 300,000 new cars enter Malaysian roads annually.

This is not surprising as public transport is nothing to shout about when it comes to getting to our destinations on time.

I have used the Federal High way almost daily for the past five years and traffic has not improved.

I have tried alternative roads, such as the Sprint Highway, but to no avail. It still takes two hours to get from Petaling Jaya to Taman Maluri, when it should have taken not more than 40 minutes.

People travelling daily from Kuala Lumpur to Shah Alam and Bandar Sunway cannot afford to use alternative highways as the toll rates can amount to RM10 a day. There is no choice but to use cheaper routes.

I believe one of the main reasons for traffic jams on highways, especially the Federal Highway, is due to bottlenecks at exits.

Most drivers do not keep to their lane. Once they spy the exit, they will turn for it, regardless of the traffic, creating congestion.

Good examples of these are the exit near MidValley Megamall from the Federal Highway and the exits to Jalan 222 and Bandar Sunway.

I used to stay in the office until 8pm to avoid the traffic jams, but it is not helping.

Traffic congestion is becoming a nuisance as it causes stress, burns up fuel, emits polluting fumes and is a waste of time.

Federal and State governments should co-ordinate and integrate their development plans to en sure that they improve the state of the roads.

A well-integrated public transport system would be a boon for the country.

If such changes took place, it would be a quantum jump for our nation.

Mohana Priya
Malaysian Association
of Standards Users 

Source: Malay Mail – February 26, 2008